Lynne Roberts delivers defiant message with playoffs out the window

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Sparks were officially eliminated from playoff contention this season following their 124-88 loss to the Atlanta Dream on Thursday. It’s now six consecutive seasons that the team has missed the postseason. The last time they qualified was during the bubble year in 2020. But with eight games remaining in the regular season, Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts is not ready to throw in the towel.

“Every time we put on the jersey we want to try to win. I think what can be gained is a lot. I mean, eight games left. We’re not just gonna roll the ball out, flip a coin and hope we pull for the best. We’ve got to coach our asses off, players got to keep showing up the way they have,” Roberts said during her postgame press conference.

“Come up with game plans, tweaks, adjustments, trying to figure out what works. It can be achieved in eight games and we’re gonna keep chopping word and we’re not ever gonna quit.”

The Sparks were thoroughly outplayed by the Dream, putting up only 12 points in the first quarter and falling behind by 22 points. It’s been a trying season for the team, a season that’s been filled with plenty of ups and downs, injury issues and culminating with the deadline blockbuster trade of Kelsey Plum to the Phoenix Mercury.

With just about one month left in the season, Roberts mentioned earlier in the day that amongst her recent conversations with team ownership was the desire by them to see the Sparks’ younger players get more playing time, as per John W. Davis of The Southern California News Group. And then before the game against the Dream during her pregame press conference, Roberts clarified that playing the bench a little more did not conflict with trying to win games.

“I didn’t mean to insinuate bench playing means that we’re not trying to win. It’s this point in the season where we do want to see our young players … two things can be true,” Roberts said. “Every time we put on the uniform we want to win. And our veterans deserve that anyway. But those guys can’t play 40 minutes, and we want to give the younger guys, the bench, maybe just longer stints. But not an abandonment of trying to win.”

The Sparks have a stretch of home games to close out the month with matchups against the Connecticut Sun, Dream and Washington Mystics. They then travel to Seattle to face off against the Sonics before the WNBA goes on a several week break for the FIBA World Cup.

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