DALLAS -- The Sparks will play their last road game in a while.
Having lost 10 of their last 11 games, the Sparks (5-17) continue to have growing pains. While they beat the Aces in an upset and played the Mercury to a close game recently, it seems like they took a step back with a blowout loss against a Lynx team that didn’t even have Napheesa Collier on the court.
Maybe they can take a step forward again, though. They are visiting Dallas, Texas where the Wings (5-18) play.
The Sparks have played the Wings well in the two games they played. The first contest was a one-point loss in a night that could’ve gone either way. The second game was a win for Los Angeles where they held Dallas to nine points in the fourth quarter.
But just like the Sparks, the Wings have been hit with a lot of injuries. All-WNBA and last year’s Most Improved Player Satou Sabally has yet to play this season. After a great start, Maddy Siegrist has been sidelined with a broken index finger. Jaelyn Brown (not to be confused with the Celtics forward that won the NBA Finals MVP) is out for an extended period with an illness. Natasha Howard is playing but she’s already missed more than half the season.
After their late May win in Los Angeles, the Wings went on a long slide that saw them lose 11 straight games. And everybody seems to take advantage of their defense that is currently the worst in the league. Their defense wasn’t the strongest to begin with but, last season, they had more than enough weapons on offense to compensate as the Wings made their way to the WNBA semifinals.
The Wings’ main offensive weapon is Arike Ogunbowale. She can score in bunches but she hasn’t been exactly the most efficient player (.363 from the field) this season. She’s even less so against the Sparks. Coach Curt Miller likes to bring it up but Ogunbowale has scored only 42 total points in 58 field goals attempted in two games against the Sparks. She is also 0 for 17 from behind the arc against Los Angeles.
Every WNBA team has talent. The Wings have Monique Billings, who was surprisingly cut by the Sparks before the season started. Howard is back playing and she’s a former Defensive Player of the Year winner. The Wings don’t lack in size at all with Teaira McCowan and Kalani Brown. And rookie Jacy Sheldon, the fifth pick in last April’s draft, is a hellish perimeter defender that can shoot the three.
Odyssey Sims was re-signed by the Wings to a hardship deal due to all the injuries and she has been a huge help, averaging 15.4 points in seven games. She came into the Wings last year in a similar situation before being signed for the rest of the 2023 season.
As for the Sparks, they signed former Wings guard Crystal Dangerfield to a second 7-day contract as Lexie Brown continues to be out for the Sparks. On the status report is also Li Yueru, who won’t be playing due to Olympic commitments. Stephanie Talbot, however, was not on the injured list so she should be available for Saturday’s game.
For the Sparks to move forward, they need more than Dearica Hamby, who was the only one to score in double figures on Tuesday’s game against the Lynx. Coach Miller emphasized rebounding in their loss against the Wings in May. They did much better in their rematch and if they hope to win, they should repeat their performance in the glass on Saturday.
Otherwise, it’s going to be a long afternoon in Texas.