LOS ANGELES — The Sparks whittled an eight-point deficit to one midway through the fourth quarter, but they could not overcome a cold-shooting night in a potentially costly 72-61 loss to the Seattle Storm on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Sparks dropped to 15-21 with their third straight loss and lost control of the eighth and final seed for the WNBA playoffs. There are four games remaining in the regular season, and for the Sparks to make the playoffs they must finish with a better record than the Chicago Sky, who are also 15-21 but hold the head-to-head tiebreaker after winning the season series (3-1).
The Sparks, who controlled their own destiny going into Thursday’s game, will play three of their final four regular-season games on the road, including a game against the Connecticut Sun and New York Liberty and a rematch with the Storm in Seattle.
The Sparks were led by Nneka Ogumike (11 points, seven rebounds), Karlie Samuelson (10 points, six rebounds) and reserve forward Rae Burrell, who had 10 points off the bench.
Seattle, already eliminated from playoff contention, improved to 11-25 behind the play of All-Star guard Jewell Loyd (25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists) and Sami Whitcomb (14 points). The Storm shot 38.9% from the field but enjoyed a 45-26 rebounding advantage thanks to the Sparks’ shooting struggles. Seattle turned it over 20 times but helped offset that by going 25 for 28 from the free-throw line.
The Sparks’ offense sputtered from the outset. The hosts found themselves trailing 20-10 with 1:15 left in the first quarter, forcing Sparks coach Curt Miller to call a timeout and regroup his short-handed nine-player rotation. After a buzzer-beating layup by Karlie Samuelson, the Sparks trailed 22-12 at the end of the period.
The Sparks pulled within 22-18 on a layup by Burrell early in the second, but the Storm extended their lead back to 38-29 by halftime behind a 14-point outburst from guard Sami Whitcomb. The…
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