Sparks’ Ability to Continue ‘Stacking Games’ Will Be Tested Immediately
The Los Angeles Sparks’ season hasn’t gone according to plan at all. They doubled down on their win-now approach by trading Rickea Jackson for Ariel Atkins and reuniting with Nneka Ogwumike in free agency, but have a losing record and are currently ninth in the standings. Their defense has been atrocious most of the season, and losing Kelsey Plum and Cameron Brink to injuries led to even more struggles on both ends of the floor.
Both are still out, but the Sparks finally look like they’re figuring some things out. They won consecutive games against the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky—a huge accomplishment for the struggling Sparks, even though the Fever were without Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark was on a minutes restriction. The Sparks are optimistic that this stretch can be the start of a turnaround.
“The ball is moving,” Lynne Roberts said in the postgame media availability, per a video on the Sparks’ YouTube channel. “There’s, you know, true ‘we need to get the win, not I need to get the bucket,’ and I think that’s the mentality of great teams, and we’re figuring it out.”
Nneka Ogwumike, who scored over twenty points in both games and recorded a double-double against the Sky, told Sparks reporter John W. Davis, “We’re building a muscle memory when it comes to not just winning, but playing hard, playing smart each possession, staying focused, staying disciplined, understanding changing schemes, and we’re slowly stacking games, and I think it’s happening at a good time.”
Nneka Ogwumike on her double-double with 25 points and 12 rebounds which contributed to the Los Angeles Sparks winning a second straight home game, this time 102-87 against the Chicago Sky. pic.twitter.com/jJlFCj8aaV
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) July 11, 2026
Their ability to continue stacking games will be tested quickly. Three of the Sparks’ next four games are against playoff teams with the Atlanta Dream, Minnesota Lynx, and Dallas Wings waiting. Can the Sparks sustain the momentum they feel these two wins created against high-level competition, or will they fall back into their old patterns?
The Sparks have had little success against playoff teams this season
The Sparks have played ten games against current playoff teams so far and have a 3-7 record. They beat the Las Vegas Aces 101-95 behind a 38-point effort from Plum in May, followed that up with a 92-87 win against the Washington Mystics, and then they beat the short-handed Fever on Wednesday.
The Sparks have also suffered some tough losses at the hands of playoff teams, though. Five of their seven losses against current top-eight teams were by double digits, including a 27-point loss to the Aces, a 20-point loss to the Golden State Valkyries in which the Sparks scored a season-low 58 points, and a 24-point loss to the Fever to close out June.
This upcoming four-game stretch is a chance for the Sparks to prove themselves against some high-end competition, but it won’t be easy. The matchup with the Dream will be the first of the season, and Atlanta just ended a five-game losing streak. The team is just desperate to stack wins as the Sparks.
The Lynx may still be without Olivia Miles, but they finally got Dorka Juhasz back to boost their frontcourt depth against Nneka Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby. Napheesa Collier also returned to practice a while ago and could make her 2026 debut soon. The Wings, meanwhile, are healthy, playing well, and looking to establish themselves as a top-five team. Paige Bueckers and Jessica Shepard will challenge the Sparks’ defense with their scoring and playmaking.
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Elaine Blum covers women’s basketball for On SI from Europe. She has been writing about women's hoops since 2023 and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism and a master’s degree in American Studies with a focus on women’s and gender studies. She started playing basketball when she was 10 years old and won several league and state championships at the youth and senior level.