LOS ANGELES — After back-to-back blowout losses, the Sparks know they have to play a tougher style of basketball.
“You have to light a fire under people’s butts and figure out the best way to get them to respond and that’s going to be different for everybody,” Sparks forward Dearica Hamby said after Wednesday’s 86-62 home loss to the Minnesota Lynx. “Little things you can do to find your confidence, get in the gym, watch more film, get in the playbook and keep playing and competing in practice.”
“Just flat out be tougher,” Sparks wing Rae Burrell added.
The Sparks (2-7) are on a three-game losing streak heading into Friday night’s game against the Dallas Wings at Crypto.com Arena, the second contest in a three-game homestand that concludes Sunday against the back-to-back WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.
Hamby is the team’s leading scorer at 20.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game on 54.7% shooting from the field. The two-time All-Star, who is in the midst of her 10th season in the league, said toughness is often synonymous with heart.
“That’s heart and unfortunately you can’t necessarily teach that, but you have to find a way to spark it,” Hamby said.
Sparks coach Curt Miller described his team’s psyche after Wednesday’s 24-point loss to the Lynx.
“They’re disappointed but not discouraged,” Miller said. “They believe that these things can be corrected, but they’ve got to throw the first punch and we have to eliminate the slow first quarters.”
Miller echoed Hamby’s sentiments about the Sparks’ need to immediately improve their physicality, which includes their mental approach, rooted in energy and effort.
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“Certainly toughness takes on both components and again this is a really young team with a lot of new pieces that are at times overwhelmed by this physicality and the tempo,” Miller said.
Dallas (3-5) already owns an 84-83 victory over the Sparks on May 26. Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale had 20 points in that game. Miller said his team has to contend with Ogunbowale’s scoring prowess and battle against the Wings’ physical post play, anchored by 6-foot-7 centers Teaira McCowan and Kalani Brown.
“Dallas’ focal point is Arike in a lot of actions, but then they have a gigantic roster with Teaira McCowan and Kalani Brown and (Stephanie) Soares (6-6) and now Mo Billings (6-4). They have a lot of size around the rim so sometimes outside of Arike, their best offense is on the offensive glass,” Miller added. “It will be a real big, big point of emphasis on how well we rebound against Dallas on Friday.”
DALLAS (3-5) AT SPARKS (2-7)
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: ION
