How Sparks’ woes paved way for Marina Mabrey’s historic night

The Los Angeles Sparks were unable to carry over the momentum from their incredible comeback win against the New York Liberty last weekend, as they fell to the Toronto Tempo, 125-97 on Thursday. To add insult to injury, Tempo guard Marina Mabrey lit the Sparks up for a career-high 53 points, tying the WNBA record for most points scored by an individual player in a single game.

While Marina Mabrey was locked in from the start of the game, dropping 19 of her points in the first quarter, the Sparks’ struggles of their own prevented them from doing anything to combat the Tempo attack. They found themselves trailing by double digits by the six and a half minute mark of the opening period.

For Sparks star forward Nneka Ogwumike, the Tempo, Mabrey included, executed each offensive possession with intent and force while the Sparks didn’t And that was the main difference to start the game.

“38 points in the first quarter, that’s unacceptable. Obviously we saw a heavy dose of what she had going on, but they were moving. They were moving as a unit, they were cutting with purpose and executing,” Ogwumike said during her postgame press conference. “We were on our back foot and that’s on us to be able to start the game better so that we’re not digging from behind for the rest of the game.”

Essentially the game was over by the end of the first quarter. The Sparks never seriously challenged the Tempo, and they scored even less points in the second quarter, 15, than they did in the first (24). Meanwhile, Mabrey continued to add to her point total, reaching 27 by halftime.

She dropped in another 12 points in the third quarter, pushing her total to 39 heading into the final period, and the Tempo knew what was at stake when they left her in the game despite the outcome already decided. And sometimes, it’s just a player’s night. No matter what you do, you just might not be able to stop them.

“It’s not always bad defense. Good offense beats good defense,” Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts said during her postgame press conference. “I’m not saying we played great D, I’m just saying she’s an incredible scorer. And you have to tip your hat to her tonight. She was tremendous.”

Up next, the Sparks face a similar explosive offensive threat at the guard position as they travel to Indiana to face off against Caitlin Clark and the Fever. Although the Sparks need to understand what they did wrong against the Tempo, Saturday’s game presents a clean slate to wipe the bitter taste away and try and salvage the road trip.

“In my years of experience, you can’t dwell too much, but you still have to feel it to know what you need to do next. In this league, games come one after the other,” Ogwumike said. “We obviously can look at the things that we can do better, but I think we really do feel what we need to do better for us to be able to come back and have a better showing on Saturday.”

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