Los Angeles, CA – Kelsey Plum and Los Angeles Sparks suffered their second home loss to Golden State Valkyries, 89-81, at Crypto Arena, Monday night in Los Angeles after missing an opportunity in the paint to win in regulation that instead led into a barren offense during overtime followed by frustration with officiating.
Downtown LA or LA Live, had two star-filled events scheduled around the same time across from each other as the BET awards opened their main show at the Peacock Theater while during the Sparks tip off against the Valkryies for an electrifying matchup that quickly turned into an early deficit for LA when Golden State’s Janelle Salaun made two of her 21 points to lead her team against Plum, whom led all scorers with 24 points in 41 minutes.
Plum had a visibly tough night with a couple of scars to show for on her face and body, which she wanted to discuss during the press conference rather than respond to a question about her team’s lack of execution, particularly limited offensive production in overtime.
“I’m going to get fined for saying this,” Plum continued. “But I drive like more than anyone in the league, so to shoot six free throws is [expletive] absurd. And I get scratched on my face, scratched on my body, while these guards on the other team get these ticky-tack fouls.”
Both teams drew around 25 fouls for the game and shot around 25 free throws, balancing the calls by the officials.
Sparks gained their first lead of the game off a pair of free throws made by Emma Cannon with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter.
The Valkryies responded swiftly with their bench play scoring back-to-back buckets from Monique Billings to take the lead, 25-23, entering into second quarter.
Golden State continued on a tear until a full timeout by the Sparks midway through the second quarter helped slow the Valkryies momentum and shift to the Sparks after a nifty fadeaway 15-footer from Rickea Jackson off an offensive rebound, to bring the Sparks within four, 31-35.
This led into a Sparks run to close the half, while taking the lead up to four, 44-40, behind a Dearica Hamby’s layup with an assist from Azurá Stevens.
Hamby and Plum accounted for 29 of Sparks 44 points in the half, as they continue to combine for the highest scoring duo in the league. Hamby finished with a near double-double, 20 points and nine rebounds. Meanwhile, Plum recorded her 1,000 career assists, dishing out seven in the game counterproductive to another off-shooting night as she eventually fouling out of the contest.
Opening the second half both teams seem to settle into their game plan and turn up their competitiveness on both sides of the floor to keep the scores within range, letting neither team break free from more than a two-possession lead.
For LA, more ball movement and contribution from others outside of Plum and Hamby as Julie Allemand came in the third with high energy to give her team the lead with a triple, 65-63.
Golden State answered, tying the score at 65 with two free throws from Veronica Burton.
The Valkryies whom look now to have found their stride this season as a first-year expansion team presented a well-balanced offensive attack by some well-oiled coaching with five players scoring in double figures, including two off the bench. However, LA’s defense held Valkryies’ Burton to nine points, whose previous scoring outputs were in double digits. Valkyries’ center Temi Fagbenle finished with a double-double, 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Kayla Thornton, whom struggled off and on through the game, but kept being aggressive on both ends, nailed a 25-foot jumper with less than 40 seconds in the game to stamp her team as the winners, thrashing the Sparks final hope of a comeback.
Los Angeles succumbed to their fourth loss, dropping to 3-7, now with a short turnaround to face Las Vegas Aces (4-3) Wednesday in Las Vegas whom also just loss to Golden State (4-5).
