Sparks snap losing streak with fourth quarter rally against Fever

The Sparks grabbed a much-needed win over the Indiana Fever on Thursday night with a big fourth quarter rally.

A scoring burst from Azurá in the fourth quarter helped the Sparks snap their four-game losing streak with an 85-75 win over the Indiana Fever.

Azurá Stevens ended with 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Dearica Hamby ended with 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Rickea Jackson pitched in with 14 points and two rebounds. Kelsey Plum had 21 points, grabbed three rebounds and dished six dimes.

Caitlin Clark did not play in the contest as she was out with a groin injury.

The Sparks opened the game on an 8-0 run with Rickea scoring five of those points. After a Fever timeout, Natasha Howard scored the first points for Indiana.

Former Spark Aari McDonald drained a 3-pointer and Aliyah Boston tied the game with three minutes left. A 3-pointer from Rickea put Los Angeles back on top as LA was shooting 70% from the field.

With 44 seconds left in the quarter, Howard scored a layup to put the Fever up by one. A pair of free throws from Emma Cannon then gave the Sparks the lead again at the end of a back-and-forth first.

It was a rough start for both teams in the second quarter. Indiana only scored on a pair of free throws from Howard. At the seven-minute mark, a 3-pointer by Sophie Cunningham put the Fever up four. The Sparks had only taken two shots and missed both. The Fever were not any better, shooting just 1-5 from the field.

Dearica Hamby got the Sparks back on the board with a layup, but Indiana responded with a quick 5-0 run to take a seven-point lead with two minutes remaining in the half.

Azurá scored a much-needed five straight points to help cut the growing deficit for Los Angeles. A 3-pointer by Shey Peddy then made it a one-point game with 49 seconds left to cap off an 8-0 run for LA.

Cunningham knocked her second 3-pointer of the game, keeping the lead in favor of Indiana. Despite a strong push to close the quarter, the Sparks went into halftime trailing by four.

LA shot 40% from the field in the first half, while Indiana shot 29%.

The second half mirrored the first with both teams missing their first few shot attempts. Kelsey Mitchell scored on a reverse layup for Indiana. By the eight-minute mark, each team began to find its rhythm offensively.

Dearica was having a nice quarter for the Sparks, scoring five points. Azurá unfortunately picked up her fourth foul, which forced her to the bench.

Kelsey cut a six-point Fever lead in half with a 3-pointer. Indiana seemed to have an answer each time LA cut the deficit close. Los Angeles committed 18 turnovers through three quarters, a major factor in their struggles with offensive consistency.

Mitchell drained her third 3-pointer of the night and was up to 15 points. Her three gave the Fever a seven-point lead with 1:18 left in the third. She knocked down another one, adding to a growing lead for Indiana.

The Fever had stretched their lead to double digits when Shey converted on a buzzer-beating layup to make it an eight-point deficit for LA at the end of the third.

A burst of five points from Azurá to start the final frame gave the Sparks some life. LA’s strategy early in this quarter seemed to be getting her as involved as possible with scoring. Lexie Hull stopped the run with a jumper.

This quarter belonged to Azurá, who was shouldering the offensive load for the Sparks. She scored again on a 3-pointer. Five straight points for Kelsey then put LA up by one with 4:11 left. Los Angeles was outscoring Indiana by nine in the quarter.

The final three minutes of the quarter were heating up with both teams exchanging leads. With 1:30 left, the Sparks were nursing a four-point lead. Dearica scored on a layup but couldn’t convert on the and-1. Azurá grabbed the rebound and converted on an and-1 herself, extending LA’s lead from two points to seven with 49 seconds left.

Indiana tried desperately to extend the game, but it didn’t matter as LA won.

Key Takeaways:

Once again, Azurá proved to be a key factor in the Sparks’ success; her scoring burst in the fourth quarter shifted LA’s energy.

LA won the battle in the paint with 42 points over Indiana’s 28 points.

The Sparks’ next game will be Sunday against the Chicago Sky at 1:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.