Los Angeles Sparks doomed by third straight slow start, fall to Chicago Sky

Los Angeles found itself in yet another early double-digit hole, partially due to Nneka Ogwumike‘s foul issues

CHICAGO – It’s unclear when or how this line was drawn, but, in sports (and presumably life), the jump from two consecutive occurrences of an event to three is generally considered to grant that event the status of a “pattern.”

Given this definition of a pattern, over the course of three games this week, the Los Angeles Sparks have now officially demonstrated a troubling one: slow starts. Specifically, double-digit first quarter deficits.

On Friday night in Chicago, L.A. found itself trailing 15-5 right off the bat to the hosting Sky. While the Sparks were able to cut that opening salvo to 25-18 at the first quarter buzzer and briefly grabbed the lead in the third quarter, they were playing catchup for most of the night during a 91-81 loss.

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The first quarter slump by the Sparks came on the heels of another one in Dallas on Wednesday, during a loss that snapped LA’s five-game winning streak. And coincidentally enough, this pattern actually started on Sunday in a win over this same Sky team, which jumped out to a 27-15 lead at Staples Center before being overtaken later on.

So what is it that has made first quarters such tough sledding for the Sparks in their matchups this week? Coach Derek Fisher said it’s as simple as shots not finding the bottoms of nets.

“I think we’re missing some shots early in the game that are deflating us a little bit,” he said. “When the ball doesn’t go in, no matter what the level is, it makes it hard for players to continue to exert maximum energy on the defensive end, to sprint back on defense, to rotate, to box out, because it’s a little frustrating that the ball isn’t going in the basket. So I think if we can figure some ways out to be a little more efficient to start the game, I think our defense will be better and we can put together some better first quarters.”

The Sparks shot just 35 percent in the first quarter on Friday, but they were also without the services of their leading scorer Nneka Ogwumike for much of that time, due to two early personals. She played just over two scoreless minutes in the opening period, and eventually fouled out with 16 points and six rebounds in 23:34 of playing time. Those are all well below average marks for the Sparks’ best player.

When asked in the locker room how much her absence impacted the course of the game, after a night in which she vocally disagreed with many calls against her, she chose her word carefully: “vastly.”

Fisher elaborated on Ogwumike’s sentiment, while adding that her partial absence especially hurt LA on the offensive glass. The Sky outrebounded the Sparks 6-1 in that category in the first period, and 11-7 overall.

“Referees are human,” Fisher said. “They’re going to make mistakes at times, and we’re not always going to agree with calls. But that means that we have to make a better effort to be in position earlier, to show our hands better, to do our jobs better, to take the control away from anybody else.

The impact of this slow start phenomenon isn’t quite rocket science; in the Sparks’ 10 losses this season, they’ve trailed in the first quarter in seven of them. But for a team locked in a tight battle down the stretch for a top-two spot (and, thus, a playoff bye), it’s obviously not a great time for this pattern to rise to the surface.

“Obviously we need to start better, we’ve got to come out aggressive, and that’s something we need to discuss,” Candace Parker, who also attributed the early struggles to offensive rebounding deficiencies, said. “That’s the way the WNBA is this year, especially on the road. We can’t come out and get down by that many points on the road.”

A team that goes from surging to struggling this quickly is bound to get a little bit of vertigo, but LA seems to be keenly aware of what issues must be addressed to start off on the right foot. Come Tuesday, they’ll have a chance to buck this little pattern and find their first quarter bearings at home against the Minnesota Lynx.”

“ is not an easy team to play against, but I don’t think it’s anything special that they’re necessarily doing,” Fisher said. “It’s more us needing to find ways to be better mentally and physically to start games, and we’ll figure it out.”

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