LOS ANGELES — The Sparks are still alive in the WNBA playoff race but again no longer control their own destiny after, being down to just two inside post players amid a season replete with injuries, they suffered a critical loss Tuesday at Connecticut.
“We’re still fighting for that playoff spot and still have an opportunity if some things fall our way, next game up,” said Sparks forward Dearica Hamby, who started in Nneka Ogwumike’s place and finished with a team-high 18 points in the 90-76 loss to the Sun.
The Sparks are sitting one game in the win column outside the playoff picture and still have a chance to make the postseason with two games remaining in the regular season.
“Again, super proud of that group and I’m just trying to emphasize how hard they’re scratching and clawing,” Sparks coach Curt Miller said. “We had two more starters scratch (Tuesday night). We’re reaching unprecedented numbers in the league’s history in how many games we’ve missed from players.”
“We’ve kind of dealt with this adversity the entire season. I think a lot of teams have but especially us,” Hamby said.
One positive from Tuesday’s loss was second-year forward Rae Burrell scoring a new career-high 13 points in her first start of the season.
“I just knew I had to be ready and my teammates put me in great positions to finish … I just had to stay ready,” Burrell said.
However, without Ogwumike, who missed her second consecutive game with a knee injury, the Sparks could not stop Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas. The MVP candidate recorded her league-record sixth triple-double of the season with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists, to go with six steals in 37 minutes.
“We need Nneka back … being down our All-Star, our leader, definitely hurt us, but control what we can control in the meantime and the eight players that get on the floor throughout these next couple of games, or whatever the number will be, are going to compete,”…
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