Sparks come out flat against Storm, lose third straight

LOS ANGELES — At some point, this gets real old.

The Sparks had eight days off after they had two bad losses on the road. They seemed refreshed, ready to go, and were eager to play.

And they came out flat and looked listless for nearly the entire game. The Storm stormed into Crypto.Com Arena and defeated the Sparks in their house, 82-64.

64 sounded great as a video game system 30 years ago when the WNBA was established. 64 isn't great as far as scoring that many points in a WNBA game.

"We just weren't good offensively," Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. "I didn't anticipate… the vibe was good. The players were in it. We had a great week. Maybe it was that. I don't know. We just didn't have it on offense. I don't know what else to say other than that. 18 turnovers that led to fast break points. They had 38 points off of our turnovers and from their O-boards. But it might just have been one of those nights.

"That's what I've said many times: the best thing about this league, also the hardest thing… but the best thing is that you have to turn the page," Roberts continued. "We're going to play a good Indiana team. I thought Seattle played well. Credit them. They played hard and made shots. We missed shots. We've got to turn the page and just keep plowing through. We just have to keep pushing through."

It wasn't exactly an offensive showcase for the Storm but the Sparks just couldn't put the ball in the basket. The Storm shot just under 43 percent but the Sparks were below 34 percent. It's hard to win when a team can barely make a third of their attempted field goals.

"Were we elite defensively? I don't really know," Roberts said, seemingly searching for the words or the answer to say. "We held them to 82. 20, 20, 14 in those other three quarters (other than the second quarter). That's not bad. I didn't think that defense was why we lost personally."

Still, the bad starts have usually led to losses for the Sparks. The Storm went ahead, 15-6, and it set the tone for the rest of the game. Flau'jae Johnson, who seemed awestruck about playing here in Los Angeles before the game, scored the first 13 points for Seattle.

"Yeah, it feels good. It feels like it's different than any arena that i ever played in," Johnson said before the game. "I feel so calm and like excited… like i'm very excited. This is like (Kobe Bryant's) house, like (LeBron James's) house. Lisa Leslie… like her name is on the court. So there's a lot of greats that's come to this place and i'm just excited to be here."

There wasn't really much to say but the Sparks coming out like that after an 8-day break was not great at all. It's going to be a long season if they churn out performances like this. And with Kelsey Plum and Cameron Brink out for a few weeks, it's a difficult task for the Sparks.

Dearica Hamby (17 points) and Nneka Ogwumike (14 points, 11 rebounds) were the only two players in double figures for the Sparks. As for the Storm (6-17), they were led by the rookie sensation Johnson (23 points) and veteran Natisha Hiedeman (15 points).

The Sparks (8-11) have lost five of their last six games. And with the Fever coming into town on Wednesday, the mountain seems to be getting higher.