{"id":178974,"date":"2025-08-27T05:54:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T05:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/178974\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T05:54:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T05:54:11","slug":"dearica-hambys-25-points-arent-enough-as-sparks-fall-to-mercury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/178974\/","title":{"rendered":"Dearica Hamby’s 25 points aren’t enough as Sparks fall to Mercury"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Execution, intensity, and pacing defined Tuesday\u2019s matchup at Crypto.com Arena, where the Sparks<\/a> (17-19<\/a>) faced the Phoenix Mercury (23-14) in their third meeting of the season, with the Sparks losing for the third time to the Mercury, 92-84<\/a>, at Crypto.com Arena.<\/p>\n

Before the game, Sparks coach Lynne Roberts emphasized the importance of focus on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us offensively, it\u2019s going to come down to pace and being willing to execute,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cYou have to execute with intensity and intention.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Sparks did a good job forcing some turnovers and getting some steals, execution was a little rushed.<\/p>\n

With 40.5 seconds left in the third quarter, things got chippy on the court when Rickea Jackson slipped and limped off, sidelined for the remainder of the quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am proud of her for trying to go back in, but I could tell she was just laboring a little bit and we had a big stretch coming in and it\u2019s not fair to keep her through,\u201d Roberts said of Jackson playing through what appeared to be an ankle injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is tough, and I have a feeling she\u2019ll be fine by the time Friday comes around,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

Sparks forward Dearica Hamby\u2019s scoring run early in the second quarter helped the Sparks briefly take the lead. After hitting a jumper to tie the score at 24, Hamby drew a foul and hit one of two free throws to put Los Angeles ahead 25-24. She finished with 25 points and eight rebounds. <\/p>\n

But the Sparks couldn\u2019t hold the advantage for long. The Mercury led 48-40 at halftime and maintained control throughout.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t shoot great from three, I mean that\u2019s where the difference in the game is they (Phoenix) went 11 for 25, we went seven for 24,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI do feel like we typically shoot it better,\u201d<\/p>\n

Satou Sabally paced Phoenix with 19 points and three rebounds. Kahleah Copper added 18 points and three assists, while Alyssa Thomas had a triple-double with 12 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s matchup was a testament to how physical the WNBA is, especially with playoffs on the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019s because the playoffs are coming, and we\u2019re scrapping for our lives, and they\u2019re playing hard. We\u2019re all playing for something and the intensity is up, and these guys have pride in how they play,\u201d Roberts said<\/p>\n

Despite strong performances from Jackson (21 points) and Hamby, the Sparks couldn\u2019t break through against Phoenix\u2019s balance and depth.<\/p>\n

The Sparks next play the Indiana Fever on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Execution, intensity, and pacing defined Tuesday\u2019s matchup at Crypto.com Arena, where the Sparks (17-19) faced the Phoenix Mercury…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":178975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[38124,10589,101257,2444,53421,160,1589,449,388,24566,10594,5612,4232,101258,62,5618,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-178974","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-assist","9":"tag-dearica-hamby","10":"tag-intensity","11":"tag-los-angeles-times","12":"tag-matchup","13":"tag-mercury","14":"tag-phoenix","15":"tag-point","16":"tag-quarter","17":"tag-rebound","18":"tag-rickea-jackson","19":"tag-spark","20":"tag-sparks","21":"tag-sparks-coach-lynne-roberts","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-tuesday","24":"tag-united-states","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115099183709343375","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}