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Sabrina Ionescu’s first shot hit the side of the backboard. Ionescu shot 1 for 19 from the floor on Sunday and Breanna Stewart wasn’t a whole lot better, but the New York Liberty got an MVP performance from Jonquel Jones to bail out her fellow two stars. Sparks Lynx hold off Liberty to force decisive Game 5 in WNBA Finals …

Dearica Hamby sets Sparks’ single-season record for points in win over Lynx

Sparks forward Dearica Hamby drives to the basket during a 68-50 win over the Minnesota Lynx in the Sparks’ season finale Thursday. Dearica Hamby scored 20 points, Rickea Jackson added 19 and the last-place Sparks closed the WNBA season with a 68-51 win over the playoff-bound Minnesota Lynx on Thursday night. In addition, Hamby passed Nneka Ogwumike as the Sparks’ …

Sparks

Los Angeles Sparks at Minnesota Lynx Minneapolis; Thursday, 8 p.m. EDT BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota Lynx hosts Los Angeles Sparks aiming to continue its six-game home winning streak. Minnesota scores 82.8 points per game, 3.8 fewer points than the 86.6 Los Angeles gives up. Los Angeles averages 78.6 points per game, 2.8 more than the 75.8 Minnesota gives up. LAST 10 …

‘She taught us some things’: Sparks’ Lexie Brown fills in as TV commentator during loss to Lynx

Sparks guard Lexie Brown made her debut as a color commentator during the TV broadcast of her team’s loss to the Minnesota Lynx last week. ”That was a funny moment,” she said, “because sometimes you say things and then you’re like, ‘Oh, shoot, they probably don’t even know what that means.’ I’m sure people were confused when I said that.” …

Things Sparks

Dearica Hamby scores her 3,000th point, but struggling Sparks fall to Minnesota Lynx

Sparks foward Azurá Stevens returned to the starting lineup Tuesday following arm surgery. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve forced Miller to call two timeouts in the first quarter, which closed with the Sparks trailing 29-16 after three-pointers from Alissa Pili and Cecilia Zandalasin on back-to-back Minnesota possessions. “I got to start with the toughness and the physicality from the start of …

Dallas Wings at Minnesota Lynx Minneapolis; Monday, 8 p.m. EDT BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota Lynx hosts the Dallas Wings after Napheesa Collier scored 30 points in the Minnesota Lynx’s 81-76 victory against the Los Angeles Sparks. Dallas has shot at a 43.8% rate from the field this season, 3.8 percentage points greater than the 40.0% shooting opponents of Minnesota have averaged. …

Rickea Jackson’s first double-double can’t save Sparks from loss to Minnesota

Sparks forward Rickea Jackson, shown here shooting a free throw against Atlanta in May, finished with 19 points in the Sparks’ 81-76 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Friday. Napheesa Collier scored 30 points to go with a career-high eight steals, Courtney Williams had 15 points and 10 assists for her first double-double of the season and the Minnesota Lynx …

Sparks fall behind early and get pummeled by the Minnesota Lynx

Lakers center Cameron Brink controls the ball in front of the Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night. “It was a really disappointing game tonight on both sides of the ball,” Sparks coach Curt Miller said. “We really talked about how important the start was and to find ourselves in the hole right away just set the …

Nneka Ogwumike and Chennedy Carter come up big for Sparks in win over Lynx

Highlights from the Sparks’ 85-83 victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday. Nneka Ogwumike’s putback of her own miss with 7.3 seconds left lifted the Sparks to an 85-83 win over the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday. Chennedy Carter led the Sparks, who had lost six of seven, with 20 points. 1 overall pick out of Louisiana State in the 2006 …

LOS ANGELES — Seimone Augustus has retired from playing and will be an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks, the team announced Thursday. “I’m excited to join the Sparks staff and look forward to developing in this new role.” She averaged 5.9 points in 21 games for the Sparks last year, her first with the team. “Seimone Augustus is …