L.A. Sparks Eliminated From Playoffs With 82-65 Loss To San Antonio Silver Stars

by Nate Parham on Sep 7, 2011 8:15 AM EDT in WNBA

The picture of the Los Angeles Sparks bench late in last night's loss to the San Antonio Silver Stars that says more than 1000 words could about their season. Photo by Craig Bennett/112575 Media.

The Los Angeles Sparks' 82-65 loss to the San Antonio Silver Stars was a terrible way to be eliminated from the playoffs on multiple levels.

There's really not a whole lot more to say about that team than the emotion that was on their faces as their playoff hopes evaporated on their home floor.

But the story of the game was Becky Hammon's thrilling 37-point performance.

Donald Barnat of Sports Page Magazine notes that Hammon's fourth quarter performance was the difference in eliminating the Sparks from playoff contention.

...the Silver Stars go-to player, guard Becky Hammon, who had already scored 20 points, exploded for 17 more in the fourth quarter and in doing so slammed shut the door on any remaining playoff hopes of the 2011 Sparks.

In the end San Antonio would win not-so-coincidently by Hammon’s 17, 82-65.

With the win, the Silver Stars clinched a playoff spot, completing the Western Conference playoff field, with seeding still not entirely certain with the season ending Sunday, September 11.

For more on the playoff implications - and the various seeding possibilities - visit SBN Seattle's WNBA playoff race storystream.

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all nighter eh?

by thewiz06 on Sep 7, 2011 10:44 AM EDT reply actions

Thankfully, no...

but was that 200 words that bad? :)

Twitter: @NateP_SBN.

by Nate Parham on Sep 7, 2011 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions

17 points in the fourth?

Talk about closing the door in someone’s face.

by James Bowman on Sep 7, 2011 11:59 AM EDT reply actions

What San Antonio performed last night was a mercy killing…per se.
They put LA out of their playoff chase misery. The Silver Stars gave them numerous chances to jump ahead in the standings with their own hiccups in the last couple of weeks. But, like the headcase team LA is, they couldn’t capitalize. They didn’t want it, and if deep-down they did, they didn’t know how to get it. Congrats to the Silver Stars. If Becky does just half of what she did last night against the Lynx in the first round, Minnesota will not have the cake walk some of their fans are expecting.

LA needs to soul search. From the front office to the locker room. Last night, I saw forwards trying to guard Hammon, leaving a mismatch in the post with a guard trying to defend Young and Riley. Uncontested layups + uncontested 3’s+ Lazy fouls = No swagger on defense. Good Bye to Bryant, Good Bye to at least 8 Sparks players, and Good Bye to Toler, if ownership had any sense.

by Will_Taylor on Sep 7, 2011 6:17 PM EDT reply actions

"Good Bye to Bryant, Good Bye to at least 8 Sparks players, and Good Bye to Toler, if ownership had any sense."

After the lackluster performances they’ve had – combined with the age of key players – I agree that a shakeup makes sense….

Defense and rebounding (boxing out) are about effort and they just never had it consistently…

But you say goodbye to 8 players – which 3 might you keep? And what types of players would you put around them?

Twitter: @NateP_SBN.

by Nate Parham on Sep 7, 2011 6:30 PM EDT up reply actions

not sure if she's one of the 8

but O’Hea won’t be back for at least part of the season. She’ll be in Australia training with the Opals and won’t return (if she does) until the end of July.

by wbb fan on Sep 8, 2011 11:58 PM EDT reply actions