Dearica Hamby lined up for one of those last-second launches as the first-half clock dipped toward zero.<\/p>\n
The ball clanged off the front rim, appearing short \u2014 until backspin carried it to the back iron for a second bounce.<\/p>\n
With Julie Allemand holding her knees and Kelsey Plum already prancing away, the ball kissed the rim twice more. And, finally, after a two-second pause that held the whole arena hostage, the ball dropped. Hamby fell with it, her teammates swarming to lift her as Crypto.com Arena erupted for what was perhaps the Sparks<\/a>\u2019 finest half of basketball of the season in a 99-80 stomping<\/a> of the Washington Mystics.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one on our team would want anyone to hit a buzzer beater more from three than Dearica,\u201d Plum said. \u201cWe were just all super excited, and especially the way it rolled in \u2014 it was very, like, climactic. \u2026 It was a great moment and it just represented the style we\u2019re trying to play moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamby\u2019s improbable triple capped a solo 10-point scoring spree and a 20-minute performance in which the ball zipped across the hardwood, the defense suffocated and every Spark had their fingerprints on a rout of the WNBA\u2019s seventh-best team.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been starting on the defensive end,\u201d forward Rickea Jackson said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been letting our defense dictate our offense. And I feel like when we\u2019re doing that, the offense has been really fun, looked really good, and tonight, especially in the first half, we were really disrupting them, not letting them do what they wanted to do.\u2019<\/p>\n By the end of the first half alone, Hamby had piled up 18. Plum chipped in 14. Jackson scored nine and Azur\u00e1 Stevens had eight. Facilitating it all, Allemand dealt eight assists. And \u2014 in what didn\u2019t reflect itself in the box score the way it did on the hardwood \u2014 the Energizer Bunny chimed in with four points.<\/p>\n Energizer Bunny?<\/p>\n Coach Lynne Roberts awarded that label to Rae Burrell before Tuesday night\u2019s showdown, adding that \u201cshe brings life and energy\u201d to the squad.<\/p>\n When Burrell picked off her first pass of the game, she orchestrated a play that would lead to Julie Vanloo finding a wide-open Sania Feagin in the paint, capping off a clinic in ball movement.<\/p>\n When Burrell stole her second pass of the game, she took matters in her own hands, going coast to coast for an and-one layup in the paint.<\/p>\n And each time, it seemed as though everyone profited off the Bunny. Her contagious energy seemed to spread to each of her teammates, who sliced through gaps on offense and brought out the clamps on defense to limit the Mystics (11-11) to 12 points in the second quarter.<\/p>\n \u201cRae\u2019s challenge is to make sure that she keeps that channel because she brings so much. I thought in the first half, she was phenomenal \u2014 she put pressure on them, and she\u2019s just so athletic. I love her spirit and her slunk and her laugh,\u201d Roberts said, after referring to Burrell as a \u201cfirecracker.\u201d<\/p>\n In the process of 10 painful minutes for the Mystics, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen \u2014 the Mystics\u2019 rookie duo who will compete in the All-Star game this Saturday \u2014 were held to a combined two points.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Plum \u2014 the Sparks\u2019 All-Star \u2014 seemed to have a dress rehearsal Tuesday night, tuning up her shot ahead of Friday\u2019s three-point contest and Saturday\u2019s All-Star Game.<\/p>\n Plum opened the night on a tear \u2014 nine points on a perfect four-for-four start, including one from beyond the arc. With cutters carving up the defense and her bigs sealing space down low, she shifted gears into facilitator mode as well, racking up six assists by game\u2019s end.<\/p>\n \u201cThought tonight was our best,\u201d Plum said. \u201cI know the numbers back it up, but in terms of like, our pace, and the way we shared the ball, the way we moved, we got great shots. We got great, quality shots. So just to continue to do that and defensively, like Rickea said, fly around, be super physical.\u201d<\/p>\n