Cameron Brink returns but Aces end Sparks' winning streak

3 days ago

Thirteen months after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament, Sparks forward Cameron Brink made her season debut, stepping onto the court at the 2:39 mark of the first quarter.
Brink looked comfortable despite the long layoff, jumping into the midseason contest intensity with confidence. She was active and competitive throughout, playing 13 minutes and 55 seconds during her return.
'We're thrilled to have her back, and I'm incredibly proud of her," Sparks coach Lynn Roberts said. "She's on a minutes restriction. … I told her that she needs to enjoy the moment. … It's a hard injury to come back from mentally and physically, and she's done it with a smile on her face."
But the night marked the end of the WNBA's longest active winning streak, as the Sparks fell 89-74 to the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Read more: Rickea Jackson has career-high 30 points as Sparks get a Commissioner's Cup win over Las Vegas
The Sparks (11‑15) trailed by double digits for most of the game and couldn't recover against the surging Aces (14‑13), who extended their lead to as much as 21 points.
In the third season matchup between the two teams, the Sparks came out a bit hesitant, while the Aces were the aggressors from the tip.
'That was the worst shooting we've had all season," Roberts said. "We've got to be able to defend. It's knowing personnel, it's knowing tendency, it's staying locked into the game plan even when they score the first eight points.'
The Aces leaned on strong starts from Jackie Young and A'ja Wilson, who combined for 34 points in the first half alone.
Wilson finished with 34 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, while Young recorded a triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
Read more: Sparks can't stop A'ja Wilson and Aces in Kelsey Plum's return to Las Vegas
Dearica Hamby remained a bright spot for the Sparks, contributing 15 points and six rebounds. Hamby was named WNBA Western Conference player of the week after leading the Sparks to three wins, including a road victory over the defending champion New York Liberty on Saturday.
Kelsey Plum added 22 points, five rebounds, and eight assists in the loss. Brink added five points, including a three-pointer, three rebounds, one block and one steal in 14 minutes of play.
'I was really proud of her," Plum said of Brink. "I told her after the game, 'It's very impressive to come in, make the impact that you did.' ... I think she's gonna continue to just help us a ton."
The Sparks, who had been rolling offensively, were startled by their difficulty scoring.
'We have been so used to making shots and so I think it caught us off guard a little bit,' Roberts said.
The Sparks will look to regroup before playing the Storm in Seattle Friday night.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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With a little help from a Coldplay meme, Freddie Freeman stays hot in Dodgers' win

Los Angeles Times

2 hours ago

Los Angeles Times

With a little help from a Coldplay meme, Freddie Freeman stays hot in Dodgers' win

TAMPA, Fla. — First, the meme made Freddie Freeman laugh. Then, in a serendipitous twist, it gave him a lightning-bulb epiphany about his recently ailing swing. At the end of a long day during last week's homestand — when Freeman was hit by a pitch on July 20, immediately removed from the game to get an X-ray, then informed he somehow hadn't sustained serious injury — manager Dave Roberts shared with the first baseman a comical video edit he had received from a friend. A light reprieve at the end of a stressful day. In it, the swing of Freeman's walk-off grand slam in last year's World Series was incorporated into a spin-off of the viral Coldplay Kiss Cam video (yes, that Coldplay Kiss Cam). Freeman got a chuckle out of the clip. But, while rewatching his Fall Classic moment, he also made an observation about his iconic swing. On that night last October, Freeman noticed, 'I'm more in my front ankle,' he later said — a subtle, but profound, contrast to how he had been swinging the bat amid a two-month cold spell he was mired in at the time. So, for the rest of that night, Freeman thought about the difference. He went into the Dodgers' batting cages the next afternoon focused on making a change. 'It's a different thought of being in your legs when you're hitting,' said Freeman, who had started the season batting .371 over his first 38 games, before slumping to a .232 mark over his next 49 contests. 'It's just more [about leaning] into my front ankle. It's helping me be on time and on top [of the ball].' 'We'll see,' he added with a chuckle, 'how it goes in the game.' Ten games later, it seems to be going pretty well. Since making the tweak on July 21, Freeman is 14 for 39 (.359 average) with two home runs, four extra base hits, 10 RBIs and (most importantly) a renewed confidence at the plate. After collecting his first three-hit game in a month Tuesday in Cincinnati, then his first home run in all of July the next evening, he stayed hot in the Dodgers' series-opening 5-0 defeat of the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, whacking a two-run double in the first inning and a solo home run in the fifth in front of a crowd of 10,046 at Steinbrenner Field (the New York Yankees' spring training park serving as the Rays' temporary home). 'That visual helped him kind of tap into something,' Roberts laughed recently of Freeman's post-meme swing adjustment. 'He is early, for a change. Versus being late, chasing.' Freeman's turnaround is something the Dodgers — who also got six scoreless innings out of Clayton Kershaw on Friday, lowering his season earned-run average to 3.29 in 13 starts — need out of several superstar sluggers over the final two months of the season. During Thursday's trade deadline, the team didn't splurge on big-name acquisitions. The only addition they made to their recently slumping lineup (which ranked 28th in the majors in scoring during July) was versatile outfielder Alex Call from the Washington Nationals. Instead, both Roberts and club executives have preached of late, the team is banking on players like Mookie Betts (who is batting .237), Teoscar Hernández (who has hit .215 since returning from an adductor strain in May), Tommy Edman (who has hit .210 since returning from an ankle injury in May) and even Shohei Ohtani (who leads the National League in home runs, but is batting only .221 since resuming pitching duties in June) to play up to their typical, potent standards. 'I think if you look at it from the offensive side, as far as our guys, they'll be the first to tell you they've got to perform better and more consistently,' Roberts said. 'That's something that we're all counting on.' For much of the summer, Freeman had been squarely in that group, as well. His recent Coldplay-inspired rebound, the club hopes, will be one of many that spark an offensive surge down the stretch this year.