Sparks fall to Sun despite big game from Rickea Jackson

There were flashes of hope, but in the end, not even a career night for Rickea Jackson was enough as the Sparks were outscored by 15 points in the fourth quarter for their fourth consecutive loss Sunday, this time to the Connecticut Sun 79-67.

“It doesn’t feel good to not be able to find ways to the finish line, but I thought we outplayed that team for over 30 minutes,” said Sparks coach Curt Miller. “But we have to have a better close.”

The Sun, who hold the second-best record in the WNBA at 25-10, presented no shortage of challenges for the league-worst Sparks (7-28). Their length proved to be a nightmare defensively for the Sparks, who gave up 21 points off 19 turnovers. They conceded 13 second-chance points to Connecticut while scoring only seven of their own, as the Sun outrebounded the Sparks offensively 8-4.

Despite this, the Sparks held a lead for the majority of the game thanks to a huge effort from Jackson, who led both teams in scoring (23 points) and also made her presence felt on defense with a career-high three steals.

“I just continue to trust in my teammates,” Jackson said. “I feel like they find me, they were getting me the ball in my spots. Just credit to them. I feel like I was being more aggressive as well. I know Connecticut isn’t going to just let me do what I want, so I know I had to hit them first, go at them first. We just got to put together four quarters.”

The Sparks were 12 for 14 from the free-throw line in the first half, with eight of them coming from Dearica Hamby. That momentum disappeared in the second half as the Sparks went four for six from the line the rest of the way.

“I thought [Connecticut] made the adjustment,” Miller said of his team’s free throw discrepancy in the second half. “I thought that had to be a topic of conversation for them at halftime, that we were getting to the foul line. But we were aggressive, we were getting through the paint. We were aggressive off the bounce, we were getting post-ups and playing out of it aggressively. It’s going to even out a little bit, but we’ve got to continue to put pressure on them and try to get to the foul line with how aggressive they play defense.”

Marina Mabrey gave Connecticut the lead on a three-pointer with just under 6:30 to go in the fourth quarter, and the Sun would take control of the game from that point on as they went on a 13-3 run until the final buzzer.

There was no dagger, there were no dramatics, it was just a complete and utter takeover until the Sparks ran out of life.

The Sparks will have a chance for redemption Tuesday, as these two teams run it back at Crypto.com Arena.

“I know that Connecticut is in the playoffs, but with us not in the playoffs, we’re treating this back-to-back like a playoff series,” Miller said. “It’s an opportunity for us to treat it that way, prepare that way, make adjustments on the short turnaround … I’m excited to get in there and make adjustments with them and practice like this would be our playoffs.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.