Los Angles Sparks Runs Pass The Mercury, As They Get Their First Victory of the season, 99-76
Orlando- The Los Angles Sparks did not look rusty as they dismantled the Phoneix Mercury 99-76 in their first win of the season.
In the first half, the Sparks and Mercury were evenly matched, as both teams were scoring at will and causing havoc for their defenses. Candace Parker contributed to a couple of blocks that led her teammates Chelsea Gray, and Sydney Wiese to some fast-break points that extended the Sparks lead to six early in the second quarter. However, Diana Taurasi started to catch fire as she scored six points in the quarter to cut the deficit down and finished with 10 points at the half. At the end of the half, the Sparks were up 50-46.
In the second half, the Sparks made it difficult for the Mercury as they switched into a 2-3 zone and put a lot of pressure on guards for the Mercury. The Mercury turned it over 26 times and it resulted in 35 fast breakpoints for the Sparks. With Parker on the bench, Seimone Augustus caught fire in the third quarter and was 6-6. Augustus and her teammates broke open the lead for the Sparks and outscored the mercury 30-8 in the third quarter. The key factors that halted the Mecury from cutting the lead down were the number of turnovers, as well as Brittney Griner being non-existent because of foul trouble. The Sparks took advantage of that and cruised to 99-76 victory. Parker finished the game with 13 points and Seimone Augustus had 14 points in her debut with the Sparks.
Check out what Coach Fisher had to say about Candace Parker and her energy within the team.