Sparks hope to avoid another road bump at Liberty (May 29, 2017)
The Los Angeles Sparks are off to an uneven title defense.
Los Angeles began its season with two solid home wins, but going on the road has resulted in difficult losses.
Coming off two disappointing defeats, the Sparks are hoping for a different outcome Tuesday night when they visit the New York Liberty at Madison Square Garden.
Defending champions for the first time since 2003, Los Angeles began its season with home wins over the Seattle Storm and Washington Mystics. Los Angeles won those games by a combined 19 points.
In their first two road games, the Sparks dropped a 93-90 decision to the Indiana Fever on Wednesday and followed it up with a two-point loss to the Atlanta Dream. During the loss to Atlanta, Los Angeles made only 4 of 12 3-point attempts but remained the league's top 3-point shooting team at 45.5 percent.
Chelsea Gray, who is averaging 17.8 points, scored 25 points Saturday. Nneka Ogwumike, who leads the team at 21.3 points and is second in the league in scoring, added 15 but Candace Parker was held to six points after scoring 37 in her first two games.
Ultimately, the Sparks couldn't sustain a hot start to the fourth quarter. They began it with an 11-2 run but couldn't get enough defensive stops as Atlanta made eight of its last nine shots.
Last season, the Sparks won their first 11 games and did not lose their second until July 17.
"We have to work to build team trust which takes time, and it's hard in this time crunch," Los Angeles guard Alana Beard told reporters. "We need to get together and watch film, to minimize mistakes defensively and get back into the rhythm offensively."
New York is returning home with a 2-2 record after splitting a trip through Phoenix and Seattle.
The Liberty pulled out a 69-67 win at Phoenix last Tuesday but were handed an 87-81 loss at Seattle on Friday night.
Center Tina Charles scored 22 of her 28 points in the second half. She took over in the third quarter with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
In New York's last home game on May 18 against Minnesota, Charles was held to six points while dealing with an illness. In her last two games, she has collected 50 points and 20 rebounds.
Charles' big effort was negated because, like the Sparks, the Liberty were unable to make defensive plays down the stretch. Although New York held Seattle to 39.3 percent shooting, it gave up seven 3-pointers after taking a 10-point lead late in the third quarter and allowed the final nine points of the game.
Overall, New York gave up 14 3-pointers and is allowing opponents to shoot 37 percent from long range, which puts coach Bill Laimbeer's team in the middle of the pack.
"We want to be a team that outworks every other team every night," Liberty guard Sugar Rodgers told MSG Network. "That's something Bill has harped on for the season, valuing every possession, valuing a presence on the defensive end."
The Liberty will play their last home game before losing Epiphanny Prince and Kia Vaughn to the 2017 FIBA EuroBasket tournament in June.
