This story was originally published by Dead Spin
The Las Vegas Aces will look to recover from one of their most worst offensive performances of the season when they host the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday evening.
After scoring 28 points in the first quarter on Saturday, Las Vegas scored eight, 15 and 16 points over the next three en route to a 79-67 defeat against the New York Liberty.
The loss was the second straight for the Aces (16-9), who went into the Olympic break with a 93-85 setback vs. the Chicago Sky on July 16.
Both losses were at home.
“We’re not going to harp on the break. It’s over, it’s done, it’s behind us,” Aces two-time league Most Valuable Player A’ja Wilson said following Saturday’s game.
Wilson, who led Team USA to the gold medal in Paris, returned to WNBA action with 24 points and 11 points against the Liberty.
No other Las Vegas player managed more than 13 points, however.
“Our want-to factor wasn’t there for 40 minutes. That doesn’t matter if we had a break or didn’t. We looked the same way against Chicago (before the break),” Wilson added. “We can’t have that. Our team in our locker room is way too good for us to not want to be the best.”
Las Vegas will aim to regroup against the Sparks (6-20), whose losing streak reached three games with a 90-86 defeat to the Sky on Saturday.
The Sparks held a double-digit-point lead in the fourth quarter but were outscored 26-12 in the final frame en route to falling for the 13th time in 15 games. Saturday’s defeat followed a 103-68 blowout loss on Thursday to New York.
“Disappointed for that locker room,” Sparks coach Curt Miller said following Saturday’s contest. “Proud how they responded to the challenge of how we played against New York, and for much of the game, thought we were accomplishing what we wanted to accomplish.”
Miller cited Los Angeles’ struggles with physicality inside the lane and on the glass, which included Chicago crashing defenders down on Dearica Hamby. The Sparks’ season-long leading scorer at 18.5 points per game finished with just seven on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
