Sparks NOTES:

– The Sparks shot 26-63 (41.3%) from the field

– The Sparks shot 5-20 (25.0%) from behind the 3-point line – The Sparks shot 14-15 (93.3%) from the free throw line
– Chelsea Gray led the Sparks in scoring with 18 points

– Candace Parker tallied 17 points, nine rebounds, and five assists

– Maria Vadeeva tied a career high with 10 points off the bench, adding six boards

– The Sparks were outrebounded 38-29 on the night

– Alana Beard (groin) and Nneka Ogwumike (illness) both missed the game

Dream NOTES:

– The Dream shot 35-71 (49.3%) from the field

– The Dream shot 4-13 (30.8%) from behind the 3-point line

– The Dream shot 7-12 (58.3%) from the free throw line

– Atlanta had 27 bench points on the night

– Atlanta won the rebounding battle 38-29

– The Dream are now 9-1 in July and have scored at least 80 points in nine of those games

– Angel McCoughtry led the Dream in points (18) and rebounds (7)

– Tiffany Hayes (12 points) scored in double figures for the 20th time this season

Quotes:

Sparks Center Candace Parker

On team’s struggles at home “[Sparks General Manager] Penny [Toler] was saying ‘I don’t think the Sparks have ever lost five in a row at home.’ I don’t know, maybe we’re better on the road. I don’t know, but we can’t keep losing at home.” On whether team’s struggles will affect her All-Star break “The All-Star break is for the fans. Obviously, it’s a tight race. We could have been second today, or fourth or fifth. I think this is going to be a good time to step away from everything and come back with a refreshed, new perspective on things.”

On team’s fourth quarter performance “I have to go back and look. Obviously, we didn’t hit shots. That was a huge thing. Defensively, just getting stops; they were constantly playing in secondary and transition because we weren’t getting to set our defense, because we weren’t scoring. I think it was a combination of everything.”

Sparks Forward Essence Carson

On what team could have done better in the fourth quarter “Getting some stops. Understanding that even if we don’t score, they don’t score. But even on the execution side of things, we just have to come down and, it’s not rocket science, but we have to come down and execute. We have the talent, we have the minds. We just have to make it happen.”

On her offensive production in starting and bench roles “Honestly, I’m not really looking for anything. I’m just being ready, just taking what they give me, and trying to be efficient.”

On what team needs to improve out of the All-Star break “I think playing consistent defense throughout the game, getting stops, and executing down the stretch.”

Sparks Coach Brian Agler

On getting back into the flow of things and getting playoff ready “We have work to do before we get into the playoffs…we have to get better in all facets of the game, we have to regroup and come back stronger.”

On Angel McCoughtry’s performance and leadership “She’s one of the better players in this league. She’s tough to defend. She is a little unconventional in how she plays but sometimes that makes it a little more difficult because she’s unpredictable she really reads defenses well.”

On adjustments going forward “We need to fix our mentality. We need to get back to being much grittier than we are right now and that affects all facets of the game. We aren’t possessing grit and we need that to be champions. Teams that get that will put themselves in position.”

Dream Forward Angel McCoughtry

On differences in game plan with Alana Beard and Nneka Ogwumike out “Definitely was a big impact. We didn’t have [Brittany] Sykes last game. It is what it is, it’s tough not having all your players, and Nneka definitely makes a big difference for this team. You can just feel her presence missed, and Alana’s, they make a big difference, so it definitely would have been a different ball game with both of them on the floor.”

On adjustments coming out of the All-Star break “Just continue to get better. We feel like we haven’t even reached our peak yet. We feel like the sky’s the limit for us right now, and you what, I really want to get a ring. I feel like I deserve a ring, it’s my time to get a ring, and what better way to come off of not playing last season. I went through so much, went through a little bit of depression last season, being off with a lot of stuff in my personal life, so that would be just glorious this year to come back and get that.”

Dream Guard Brittany Sykes

On guards’ rebounding success “As guards, we have to just keep doing what we’ve been doing, and that’s just going in and crashing and crashing. We have me, [Tiffany Hayes], Angel [McCoughtry], guards that can get in there, get those rebounds, and bump with those bigs. We have to give a lot of credit to our bigs because we’re able to get those rebounds because they block out their bigs, and they hold their bigs back from getting the ball, so the guards naturally have to come in and rebound. That’s why some of the games you look at the stat sheet and you’ll see me, Angel, and Tiff have eight, and maybe E has four, or six, but that’s because she’s blocking out Sylvia Fowles or Candace Parker, and all those bigs who really get in there to get those rebounds.”

On setting the tone off the bench “Every time we touch that floor, as a bench unit, we have like a little huddle before the games, and I talk to the bench, and I tell them ‘It’s the first ten minutes, and then it’s the first twenty minutes, and then it’s the next twenty.’ So, we just have to take care of those quarters whenever we get in. We kind of have a rotation going, so we know when it’s about that time when we’re about to go in. Assessing the situation on the floor, how’s the pace, how the team’s playing, is it slow, is it fast, all those things. So, once we realize that, when we get in the game, now we turn it up, we get that energy, and we just take it to heart that we’re going to be the better second unit. The other starters have to come out too, and when their second unit comes out, we have to dominate and give the starters a good cushion, or give them a good pace to go back in the game and keep it up. So, we’ve been doing that and it’s been helping a lot. Championship teams have a bench. We are trying to be that. We are trying to become that.”

Dream Coach Nicki Collen

On Monique Billings’ play “She brings energy and she brings confidence and Jessica Breland was really sick, so I knew I had to limit her minutes, so I knew Monique Billings was going to get minutes. The one thing we know about Mo is that she’s going to bring a lot of energy. She’s going to rebound, she’s going to run the floor, and I thought she did those things, and she starts making 15-footers and all of a sudden peoples’ eyes really open wide since she tends to score around the rim.”

On bench performance and playing against LA with injured starters “I thought our bench was great. That’s what allowed us to put our foot down on the pedal in the fourth quarter, because obviously Los Angeles is undermanned right now with [Alana] Beard and Nneka [Ogwumike] out. So only playing seven players, we knew that if we kept running and we used our bench, we could get to them in the fourth and we could really get to their legs. If you look at Candace’s production from first quarter to fourth, you can see that the minutes wear.”

“Brittney Sykes just gave us a huge lift off the bench, and her three was absolutely huge in front of our bench. But even getting active on the boards was huge for us, and adding that extra rebounder, I think really helped us.”

Her message to the team going into the fourth quarter “I thought we had to get to their legs, and knowing that they only played seven players, being without [Alana] Beard and Nneka [Ogwumike], we kept saying if we stay close, if we stay close, we can pull away in the fourth. We’ll keep our guys fresher, and I think you saw that. As they got tired legs, they became easier to screen, and so all of a sudden, our set plays coming out of timeouts turned into easy layups and shots. And then they started missing some shots. I mean Candace missed some shots late that she doesn’t usually miss, and I think so much of that can be attributed to fatigue.