LOS ANGELES — Sparks coach Curt Miller almost got his wish at home against the Atlanta Dream. The Sparks fought hard early in the second half, trimming a 13-point halftime deficit to five midway through the third quarter.
But their sheer will was not enough, and the Sparks eventually found themselves trailing by as much as 20 points in the fourth quarter on their way to their fourth straight loss, 90-79, on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Nneka Ogwumike had another double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, Azurá Stevens had 16 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots off the bench, and Jordin Canada had 13 points and seven assists but the Sparks could not overcome Atlanta’s pivotal 13-0 run late in the third quarter, losing to the Dream for the second time this week.
Rookie guard Zia Cooke added 11 points off the bench for the Sparks (7-11), who have dropped eight of their past 11 games. They next play at Phoenix (3-13) on Sunday.
All-Star reserve guard Allisha Gray had a game-high 23 points, four rebounds and six assists to pace Atlanta (8-8).
Rhyne Howard, who was coming off a career-high 43 points in Sunday’s 112-84 win against the Sparks, added 15 points, five rebounds and six assists and was 5 for 9 from 3-point range. All-Star reserve forward Cheyenne Parker had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Sparks trailed 29-16 at the end of the first quarter, as Atlanta’s Howard and Nia Coffey went a combined 5 for 7 from behind the arc and the Sparks shot 6 for 19 overall (32%).
The Sparks trailed 37-20 early in the second quarter but a step-through layup by Stevens capped a 14-6 Sparks run that cut Atlanta’s lead to 43-34 with 4:41 left in the first half.
However, the Sparks trailed 53-40 at halftime. Ogwumike had 12 points in the first half but that wasn’t enough to overcome Atlanta’s sizzling shooting. The Dream made 20 of 34 shots from the field (58.8%), including 6 of 12 from 3-point range, in the first half.
A 3-pointer by Sparks…
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