SPARKS NOTES:

– Nneka Ogwumike missed her third straight game with a minor back injury

– Sydney Wiese did not travel as she nurses a left knee sprain

– The Sparks shot 30.4% in the first quarter

– The Sparks shot 38.5% in the first half

– The Sparks shot 42.1% after three quarters

LEADERS Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 TOTAL POINTS REBOUNDS ASSISTS

LA Sparks (11-5) 15 22 25 16 78 Gray-22 Vadeeva-7 Beard-6

Las Vegas Aces (6-11) 18 26 29 21 94 Wilson-29 Wilson/Plum-9 Plum/Hamby-5

– The Sparks shot 39.7% FG, 46.4% 3P, 58.3% FT

– The Sparks were 6-of-11 on 3-pointers in the first half (54.5%)

– The Sparks attempted just two free throws in the first half

– Chelsea Gray had seven first quarter points

– Chelsea Gray had nine second quarter points, totaling 16 in the first half

– The Sparks did not shoot a free throw in the first quarter

– Essence Carson scored a season high 17

– The Sparks made a season high 13 3-pointers

– Maria Vadeeva had a career high 10 points

– Alana Beard had a season high six assists

– The Sparks shot just 12 free throws for the game

Aces NOTES:

– The Aces shot 46.7% in the first quarter

– The Aces shot 50% in the first half

– The Aces shot 54.2% after three quarters

– The Aces shot 51.6% FG, 62.5% 3P, 74.2% FT for the game

– The Aces were 4-of-5 on 3-pointers in the first half (80%)

– Dearica Hamby scored six points in the first quarter

– A’ja Wilson scored 11 points in the third quarter – The Aces shot 31 free throws

Aces Quotes

Head Coach Bill Laimbeer

I thought our team played the same way we did the last game, only a different result this time.  We didn’t make the mental errors that cost us the game against Dallas.  We took care of the basketball when we needed to.  I thought we played an all-around smart game, the first smart game we’ve played in a while since we beat Seattle up in Seattle.  We had a lot of good performances, I thought Plum played outstandingtonight for us, controlled the action across the board.  And in the third quarter A’ja was not mentally engaged, missing easy shots.  I challenged her and she said ‘okay’ and all of a sudden, she took over the game from there for us offensively.  Hamby played well, we had a lot of good efforts, a good team effort across the board and now we have to play them again within the next 48 hours, so I know they won’t be as tired as they were tonight.  It’s going to be a dog fight but we’re growing and we’re confident.

On team coming together

I think you could see the chemistry growing.  We’re seeing what individuals can do, I talked to them yesterday about the fact that I’m going to start defining roles for them on what their individual roles are and who they are.  I made a lineup change tonight because I thought a couple were struggling and I wanted to again make sure that we had a bit more presence in the starting lineup.  I think everyone is realizing who they are on this basketball team and what their responsibilities are and now we have to go perform like that every night.

On Kelsey Plum

I’ve kept her in a box for a while now and I wanted to make sure that she ran our team the way I wanted it to, I wanted to establish A’ja Wilson early in the season and I wanted to make sure we attacked the rim and go to the line and not settle for jump shots.  And I’m getting more comfortable with her now to give her a little more freedom to go out there and create.  You see a little more creativity from her individually the last two games.  She gets into the lane a bit more and made some nice passes.  We know she’s always going to be a good shooter, but I’m looking for a bit more offensive from her.  But overall her game tonight was the best I’ve seen out of her.

On pace of game tonight

We wanted to push the pace and we did throughout the whole course of the game.  We know that they have some quality athletes, but that’s our game is we want to push, especially when we knew they were coming from Seattle on a back-to-back with tired legs, we’re going to take advantage of that.  I thought our pace of play throughout the course of the game was to our advantage, we got some easy buckets, we got some transition baskets, and we got them in a position where they couldn’t set their defense at a half-court set because we kept attacking the inside.

On defensive effort against Candace Parker

Part of it was, I think Candace Parker was tired, we were in her space throughout the course of the game, Hamby got on her a fair amount.  We played a good team defense anytime somebody tried to attack the paint, we cut that off, so she didn’t get the open looks like she’s used to, but I think she was just a little tired tonight.

Kayla McBride

On game

“Everything was great, we had so many people in double figures and when we’re able to have that balance…..and then when A’ja kind of took over the second half, we’re really tough to beat .

On advantage for home team for road team’s back-to-backs

“Yeah [Bill] definitely does (push the tempo), and we have to take advantage of that, especially at home and I thought we did today. They looked like they were trying to keep up with us which is what we want. We want that every game; I think especially with our youth, we want to push the pace.”

On shifting Vegas sports culture

“Man it was so dope to see them (Davis and Mayweather) on the sidelines supporting us, and our fans in general have been amazing. I mean if you look it’s been pretty packed for all of our home games, whoever’s coming in, we’re having a lot of our fans out. It was really cool to see Floyd on the sideline out here supporting us. I mean I’m sure he can be anywhere, like Thailand. I see him on snapchat in a different country every other week. To have him set aside time to come see us is really really cool, especially considering his stature.”

On keeping winning pace on road

“We have to keep our same focus. We know we’re going to get LA 10x more than what we had with them today. They’re going to come back with vengeance especially at home. Then we actually have a couple days off which is nice because we haven’t had much practice time. We play on the first and don’t play again until the fifth, so to be able to get some practice time and get back in the gym and clean up some things will be good.”

A’ja Wilson

On win/where they are as a team

“I think it (the win) says a lot about us, it shows we’re growing, especially how we started off looking back at those games. I think we came out with great energy; we picked it up and that’s what we need and I think that goes to show that’s the type of team that we are, that we can accomplish things but we have to be locked in for 40 minutes.”

On Bill’s timeout after LA’s 10-2 run

“It was not a good mood but that’s what got us going. We knew that we needed to be locked in and we came out very sluggish and slow and that’s not how we needed to come out because team’s get that, and we don’t need that on our home court. But we got our minds turned on and started knocking down shots and things started going well for us.

On Bill challenging her to be better

“Definitely, it’s a great thing to have. We have a coach that can see that (slump) and he’s going to call you out on it. You can then understand what you’re doing wrong and can pinpoint it to fix and that’s what he did. He kind of came out and was like, you have to lock in, and I felt sometimes I was not locked in. For the better of the team, I have to be locked in all the time and I have to keep going. I think that’s the rookie in me, but slowly starting to grow out of it.

On playing against Candace

“It was great being out there with her and I idolize her of course. She’s a great player and a great person to learn off the court too as someone I look up to.”

Kelsey Plum

On this being a signature win

This is a huge win for us. We’ve had moments where we’ve been close like the Dallas and Chicago games. But to be able to close out a game against the best team in the league is something that I’m really proud of. Everyone played for 40 minutes. Coach [Laimbeer] talks about playing 40 minutes all the way through and we’ve had stretches where we’ve lost it or broke down but I was proud of everybodytonight.

On being more comfortable on the court

“For me, I’m just trying to do what Coach needs me to do and that’s pushing the ball in transition and getting it to A’ja and McBride. I was just trying to push the pace. Los Angeles is such a good team, especially when they set up their defense. They can be hard to score against so I was just trying to run. We’re young and we have a lot of bodies so we can just keep flowing through. That was the big emphasis tonight. But I think I am getting more comfortable knowing what Coach wants and knowing my role.”

On the team defense

“Our intensity. The Sparks are so good with the way they move the ball. They have great chemistry and they’ve played together for a while. For us it was just playing intense ball pressure. They made some big shots on us and they went on a huge run. But Jamie came in and did a great job with ball pressure and intensity. Dearica Hamby came in and really mucked it up and ran the floor. When we’re able to run and score then set up our defense I think we’re pretty tough. I’m very proud of our team defense.”

Sparks Quotes

Head Coach Brian Agler

On the loss:

We don’t make any excuses when playing back-to-backs. We are who we are and tonight that was not very good. Our defensive effort was substandard.

On in-game conversations with Chelsea Gray:

We talked about multiple things. I can’t remember every conversation that we had but I wanted her to take advantage of every opportunity that we had and to try to get people involved.

On A’ja Wilson’s performance:

I’ve been asked that four times today but nothing has changed. She’s a very good aggressive player. I think the thing that separates her from a majority of rookies that come into the league is her physicality and her aggressiveness. She’s skilled. There’s a lot of skilled players but she’s got the aggressiveness, the hunger, the desire and the fight that sometimes takes a few years for good players to develop.

Center Candace Parker

On the atmosphere on the game:

The trip from the airport was all Aces. They’re advertising everywhere in the hotel. It was a fun experience and they did a good job as a franchise advertising the team.

On A’ja Wilson:

You guys saw her tonight. She played really well. She’s having a great season. I haven’t been able to catch up with all of the games they’re been playing but obviously you can tell from the stat sheet she dominated tonight. She’s playing well and her team is doing a really good job of feeding her and getting her looks.

On playing back-to-back nights:

You just play the games that we have on our schedule. I think everybody has stretches that are difficult. We’re not a team that quotes us in the paper making excuses. They played better than us tonight and we have another shot on Sunday.

On where the team is at and what you need to do to get better:

We’ve got a tough stretch. We’ve lost some games and I think it’s just getting back to practice. We have to figure it out watching film and figure it out of the court as we go. We’re going to be happy to go home for this two-game home stand and hopefully get back on a roll.

Starting Guard Chelsea Gray

On the loss:

I don’t feel too good right now. We have to control what we control and we have to control our defensive effort. That’s something to start off with at first. We’ll take a look at the game and see things we did offensively. It starts with the defense.

On if you had a good matchup on the floor:

In the first half a little bit. People were cutting and I was getting some open looks and was able to knock it down. The flow to the game was upsetting defensively and our offense was getting stagnant. It wasn’t so much what I was doing individually.

On A’ja Wilson:

She’s talented and a big post-player. She steps out, gets the shot off and is versatile.

On the keys to the game against Las Vegas on Sunday:

 Defense and move our bodies better offensively as well as playing inside and out. We need to attack better as we didn’t have an attack mode defensively too.