Cam Brink’s return spoiled by Aces as Sparks winning streak snapped

While Cam Brink made her long-awaited return, the Aces stopped the streaking Sparks with a dominating win on Tuesday.

The Sparks’ five-game winning streak was snapped in dominating fashion on Tuesday as the Aces controlled the game from start to finish, winning 89-74.

Cam Brink returned after a 13-month absence following a torn ACL, ending with five points, three rebounds, an assist and a block in 14 minutes.

Dearica Hamby had 15 points and six rebounds. Kelsey Plum scored 22 points with eight assists. Azurá Stevens pitched in with nine points and eight rebounds.

Rickea Jackson had six points, going 2-10 from the field. Rae Burrell ended with 17 points off the bench.

The Sparks had a rough start to the game as A’ja Wilson dominated early on. She scored 10 of Las Vegas’ first 14 points. Los Angeles not only couldn’t score, but they also struggled to defend.

Dearica was the only player who was putting up points for LA until Kelsey and Rickea scored a combined four points.

At the 2:39 mark, Cam was subbed in and immediately made an impact with a rebound that led to a layup by Rickea, then followed it with a 3-pointer.

At the end of the first, the purple and gold were down 13.

A pair of buckets from Rae and Dearica cut the deficit to single digits, forcing an early timeout from Las Vegas. Wilson was subbed back into the game and was still on fire, knocking down two straight midrange shots.

All the hard work LA did to cut the deficit to nine went to waste almost immediately with an 8-2 Vegas run. Dearica was the only Spark in double-digits with 11 points. As a team, Los Angeles was shooting 37% from the field, while the Aces were shooting 48%.

The rest of the quarter mostly belonged to Las Vegas thanks to Wilson’s stellar play. Azurâ drained her first 3-pointer in three attempts.

Still, at the end of the second, the Sparks were down by 14.

LA began the third quarter with a turnover. It was followed by a personal foul and a technical on Kelsey, an omen for a frustrating second half. Las Vegas was suffocating Los Angeles with their defense. They had 11 team steals and forced 16 turnovers at that point.

Rae added some energy, scoring six points, but LA needed much more than that to make it a tighter affair. Kelsey picked up the scoring with nine points, but it didn’t matter as Las Vegas kept its foot on the gas pedal for a 17-point lead at the end of the third.

The final frame began with a pair of 3-pointers from the Aces, extending their lead. Azurá converted on a layup. With five minutes left in the game, the Sparks had only put up eight points in the quarter.

After having been on fire from behind the arc the past few games, Kelsey missed all six of her attempts. Vegas’ Jackie Young also dominated throughout the game, putting up her first triple-double of her career as the visitors cruised through the period to the win.

Key Takeaways:

Twenty turnovers were a disaster. The lack of defense was a disaster.

Rae’s constant high-octane energy off the bench, whether in scoring or the little things like rebounding and defense, is special for the Sparks, considering their bench is never consistent.

The Sparks’ next game will be Friday against the Seattle Storm at 7:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.