{"id":966189,"date":"2026-07-29T06:02:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T06:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/966189\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T06:02:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T06:02:33","slug":"sparks-honor-delisha-milton-jones-then-lose-their-sixth-straight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/966189\/","title":{"rendered":"Sparks honor DeLisha Milton-Jones, then lose their sixth straight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On a night when a franchise legend had her jersey raised to the rafters, the Sparks played with inspiration and determination but were unable to snap their losing streak, falling to the New York Liberty 113-109 on Tuesday<\/a> at Crypto.com Arena.<\/p>\n

The Sparks (10-17<\/a>) have lost six straight.<\/p>\n

Down 11 with 3:30 left, the Sparks pulled to within 112-109 on Nneka Ogwumike\u2019s three-pointer with 15 seconds left, but Breanna Stewart sank the second of two free throws with 13.9 seconds left to ice it for New York (16-12).<\/p>\n

Despite the absence of leading scorer Kelsey Plum, who is averaging 23.9 points a game but has been sidelined with a lower leg injury since the teams\u2019 prior meeting June 25, the Sparks<\/a> had a balanced attack with six players in double figures.<\/p>\n

Rae Burrell led the charge with 24 points, Ogwumike added 21 points and nine assists, Erica Wheeler had 17 points and nine assists, Ariel Atkins had 16, Dearica Hamby had 12 and Cameron Brink had 11 for the Sparks, who squandered a chance to inch a half game in front of Portland for fifth place in the WNBA\u2019s Western Conference. The Fire (11-17) lost to Las Vegas earlier Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of my team \u2014 we were active and connected,\u201d Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. \u201cWe scored 30 points off of 18 turnovers, we made more field goals than them and we had 35 assists, which is a franchise record. We just didn\u2019t get rewarded with a win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart had 29 points and Sabrina Ionescu added 27 for the Liberty, who were without Leonie Fiebich (left foot soreness), Satou Sabally (concussion protocol) and Marine Johannes (left ankle). The Sparks trailed by only one point, 85-84, entering the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefensively we did a good job, our game plan was correct but give them credit for making shots we didn\u2019t think they\u2019d make,\u201d Wheeler said.<\/p>\n

\"Former <\/p>\n

Former Sparks player DeLisha Milton-Jones poses with family and friends during her jersey retirement ceremony during Tuesday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

(Katelyn Mulcahy \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Sparks paid homage to DeLisha Milton-Jones by retiring her No. 8 jersey in an emotional halftime ceremony. The 6-1 forward is the fourth player in the team\u2019s 30-year history to be so honored, joining Penny Toler (No. 11 in 2006); Lisa Leslie (No. 9 in 2010); and Candace Parker (No. 3 in 2025).<\/p>\n

\u201cMoments like this are well worth the wait,\u201d said Milton-Jones, who spent 11 seasons over two stints in the purple and gold (1999-2004 and 2008-12). \u201cI\u2019m filled with pure joy and gratitude knowing my day has come to receive flowers of this magnitude for the legacy I\u2019ve left within the game of basketball and the Sparks organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milton-Jones played a pivotal role in the team\u2019s back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002 and was nicknamed \u201cD-Nasty\u201d by former Sparks head coach Michael Cooper, a five-time NBA champion with the Showtime-era Lakers. Joining her for the occasion were husband Roland Jones and Parker.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just retiring a number, we\u2019re retiring a legacy,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The retired Sparks jersey of DeLisha Milton-Jones is revealed during halftime Tuesday.<\/p>\n

(Katelyn Mulcahy \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Milton-Jones ranks third in franchise history in blocks (245) and fourth in points (4,018), field goals (1,509), rebounds (1,882), steals (440) and minutes (10,384). She represented Los Angeles in the 2000 WNBA All-Star Game and her 683 assists are the eighth-most in Sparks history.<\/p>\n

After allowing the first basket, the Sparks went on a 9-0 run, but back-to-back three-pointers by Ionescu pulled New York to within one. Ionescu scored 14 points in the first quarter, propelling the visitors to a 36-30 lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need a reset after the All-Star break and we wanted to win,\u201d Burrell said. \u201cWe pushed at the end but the live ball turnovers cost us. This is a competitive league and things are not always going to go your way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ionescu was held scoreless in the second quarter as the home team turned its defensive intensity up a notch and carried a 56-53 lead into the locker room thanks to Burrell\u2019s 13 points and Brink\u2019s 11.<\/p>\n

Atkins finished with five assists and Hamby had four, Burrell had three and Brink had two assists and six rebounds despite not scoring in the second half. The Sparks led by as many as nine points on several occasions. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no moral victories but our execution was the best it\u2019s been in a long time,\u201d Wheeler said. \u201cWe just needed certain stops we didn\u2019t get at the end. We\u2019re not okay with losing but we don\u2019t have to hang our heads.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Sparks begin a three-game trip Sunday at Portland.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll take them one at a time,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIf we play like this, we\u2019re going to come out with the right result. We can do this. We can play this way. New York has studs on their team and in the clutch they took over.\u201d <\/p>\n

Plum\u2019s future with the team is uncertain and the trade deadline is five days away. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor where we want to be, everything has to be evaluated,\u201d Roberts commented in her pregame news conference. \u201cFor where we are in the short term and where we want to be in the long term, we\u2019ve got to evaluate everything. I\u2019m not going to get into specific players, I\u2019m not in a position to do that but we\u2019re evaluating everything. We\u2019re not where we want to be right now. I\u2019m not going to sugarcoat it. Everyone is committed to getting this franchise where it needs to be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a night when a franchise legend had her jersey raised to the rafters, the Sparks played with…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":966190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[38124,1582,276,21899,388186,1910,2961,224,5337,1520,2337,9323,449,10593,15534,5613,5612,4232,3007,5618],"class_list":["post-966189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-assist","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-candace-parker","tag-delisha-milton-jone","tag-game","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-nneka-ogwumike","tag-player","tag-point","tag-rae-burrell","tag-sabrina-ionescu","tag-second","tag-spark","tag-sparks","tag-team","tag-tuesday"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117001753918665320","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966189","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=966189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/966190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=966189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=966189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=966189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}