LOS ANGELES — The Sparks will look to win their first game of the 2024 WNBA season against the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night at Long Beach State.
The 0-2 Sparks are led by two-time All-Star forward Dearica Hamby, who is averaging a double-double with 24.5 points and 11.5 rebounds, including a game-high 29 points and nine rebounds in the team’s 89-82 loss at the Las Vegas Aces on Saturday.
Despite a pair of losses, the Sparks were competitive against the two-time WNBA champion Aces.
Sparks guard Kia Nurse, who is nearly three years removed from a season-ending ACL injury in October 2021, is averaging 18 points per game, well above her career high of 13.7 points per game in her lone All-Star season. Guard Lexie Brown is averaging 12 points. Rookie forward Rickea Jackson averages 10 points per game, including 13 points off the bench against the Aces.
However, the Sparks are struggling to find consistent scoring from the bench. Outside of Jackson’s 13 points, the bench players combined to score six points against the Aces between Zia Cooke (4 points) and Stephanie Talbot (2 points). Aari McDonald and Li Yueru did not score.
The Sparks are shooting 37.8% from 3-point range, which is the second-best in the league, well above last season’s 33.3%, which was ninth among 12 teams.
Meanwhile, Washington (0-3) is led by two-time All-Star guard Ariel Atkins with 15.7 points per game. Former Sparks guard Brittney Sykes, who suffered an ankle injury on May 17 against the Connecticut Sun, is considered day-to-day.
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The Mystics are coming off an 84-75 loss at home against the Seattle Storm on Sunday, in which Atkins has a team-high 19 points and rookie forward Aaliyah Edwards, the No. 6 pick in the draft out of Connecticut, had nine points and 11 rebounds.
Edwards will battle inside against Sparks rookie forward Cameron Brink, the No. 2 pick in the draft from Stanford. It will be imperative for both players to stay out of foul trouble, especially because Brink, who is averaging seven points and five rebounds this season, had a game-high five blocks in 25 minutes against the Aces.
Tuesday’s contest against Washington will be the first of three games this week. The Sparks host Caitlin Clark and Indiana Fever on Friday and Arike Ogunbowale the Dallas Wings on Sunday.
WASHINGTON AT SPARKS
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Walter Pyramid, Long Beach State
TV: Spectrum SportsNet
Records: Sparks (0-2), Washington (0-3)
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