Sparks fall in final seconds in home opener against Lynx

Newly hired Sparks President Vanessa Shay, less than two days into her tenure with the team, said before their home opener that the crowded L.A. market had forgotten about the Sparks.

Fans got a thrilling reminder Tuesday night, but a first impression that the team might want to forget.

In their first home game of the year, the Sparks lost 87-84 to the Minnesota Lynx at Crypto.com Arena. The new-look team turned to an old star, leaning on 11-year veteran Nneka Ogwumike for a team-high 22 points with eight rebounds, but let Minnesota’s Kayla McBride slip behind the defense and score on a reverse layup with 2.1 seconds left that put the previously winless Lynx ahead.

Jordin Canada’s contested three-point attempt at the buzzer came up short, and the fans who had waited more than a year for the full Sparks game experience fell silent. McBride, one day after returning from overseas duty in Turkey, finished with a game-high 24 points.

Tuesday’s game was the first true home crowd for the Sparks since 2019, as the pandemic consumed the past two seasons. The team that led the WNBA in attendance for three consecutive seasons before COVID-19 upended everything didn’t host a crowd larger than 5,000 last year. The Sparks’ attendance was the lowest in the league in 2021, in part because they played 11 of 16 home games in the Los Angeles Convention Center, which didn’t hold more than 1,000 people per game. Coach Derek Fisher and players expressed excitement about the team’s return to Cyrpto.com Arena on a full-time basis this year.

But with pandemic restrictions lifted, the Sparks’ passionate fans filled about only half of the arena’s lower bowl Tuesday. Attendance at WNBA games has lagged in recent years, even before the pandemic. The fight to get fans back in seats is a struggle all teams share, Fisher noted before the game. The Sparks, who missed the playoffs for the first time since 2011 last season, have the challenge to win their fans back.

“Whatever it takes to get more people to come back out, that’s the box that we need to check,” Fisher said before the game. “Most of the time that means winning, and in the city of Los Angeles it always means that.”

Coming off a blowout loss to championship favorite Connecticut in which the Sun outrebounded them 45-21, the Sparks again got overpowered on the boards. Despite 6-foot-8 Liz Cambage and Ogwumike anchoring the Sparks defense, Minnesota had a 40-26 rebounding advantage. Cambage had seven rebounds with 12 points.

Five games into the season, the Sparks (2-3) are far from the finished product. Only three of their players played significant minutes for the team last year. They still are missing Kristi Toliver, a two-time WNBA champion who is also an assistant coach on the Western Conference finals-bound Dallas Mavericks.

But the talent Fisher assembled in the offseason has the attention of the league. Players believe in his vision for a defensively sound team that relies on a free-flowing offense.

“We’re still trying to figure each other out, but I think what’s going to be our identity is the Sparks have always been a top defensive team and we’re still going to have that identity,” Canada said before the game. “And just adding an element of players that can create for others and we’re so versatile. I think that’s what’s really special about this team.”

Canada finished with eight points and six assists.