la sparks v.s. phx mercury – may 19th, 2023

SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN – Zia Cooke, LA Sparks 2nd quarter flurry proves to be the difference-maker in a 94-71 win over Phoenix Mercury.

by Ben Sher

Los Angeles, CA – Brittney Griner’s return to a WNBA floor was celebrated by both sides of the aisle court. Players from the Mercury, Sparks, and even the Vice President of the United States spoke to Griner and the media about what it means to see her back home – in the states, and on the hardwood.

The game began with a couple of fun Mercury baskets. Griner put away a turnaround hook and a jump shot, both assisted by Diana Turasi, but that was about all the fun there was to be had this evening for the Mercury. After a 18-7 opening run from Phoenix, the LA Sparks pulled it back with some nice shooting to reach a 22-19 score at the end of the first. The Sparks went on a 8-0 run in 0:57 seconds – Layup, LA Steal, 3pt, PHX miss, 3pt.

Enter, Zia Cooke.

After not seeing the floor for more than a few moments in the first quarter, Cooke took full advantage in the second. In just six minutes and forty-four seconds, Cooke put up five shots (including two threes), a pair of free throws, and made all of ‘em. She tagged on an additional two assists just for fun, leaving her with a ludicrous stat line of 14-2-2 at the half in only 8:23 played. Just a few more points on the LA Sparks unreal second quarter – The team shot 11-16 from the field (68.8%!), made all ten of their free throws, and had zero turnovers.

Zia “You Give Me Five Minutes of Hell” Cooke left the game early in the third quarter after bumping knees with another player. She was in high spirits in sideline interviews, but she barely saw the court again, seemingly a precautionary measure to prevent real injury. Some people likely wanted to see more of Cooke on the court – including her former Gamecock coach Dawn Staley, who couldn’t hide her pride watching her former point guard cook at the next level.

This prolific offensive performance was anchored by the Sparks defense, which was incredible from start to finish. The Mercury were only able to manage 19 points in the face of LA’s 35-point second-quarter onslaught. Mercury’s Turasi and Griner were targeted all night by the Sparks’ high motor, physical defense.  The Sparks were putting Diana Turasi in HELL on the screens. shoulder checks, swipes at the ball, you name it. It worked to the Sparks advantage – the refs kept their whistles away, and Turasi got more and more frustrated as the game went on. She shot 2-7 in the second quarter, and the rest of the team didn’t fare much better, putting up a combined field goal percentage of 35.7% across 14 shots. The Sparks never deviated from their defensive strategies and philosophies. Be physical, relentless, and make Britney Griner take every shot from outside the paint.

As we look at the aftermath of the first half that came, two things stand out – Zia’s performance, and the turnover differential (8-1, in LA’s favor). The Phoenix Mercury couldn’t shake those turnover problems, committing 22 of them in the game compared to LA’s 7. Every single LA starter registered at least 1 steal. The team had 10 total. Nothing much out of the ordinary happened in the second half. Similar trends continued, as the Sparks continued to play fantastic defense, and the Mercury kept turning the ball over. To LA’s credit, many of these turnovers were on shot clock violations – indicative of an outstanding defensive effort.

If you’re the Sparks, you must be happy coming away from this victory. For a team with a new roster makeup, I was impressed with the performance. The team communicated well on defense even with a very short offseason. Five players, including Zia Cooke, scored in double figures. There is room to grow, but it seems as though the Sparks are in good stead.

5 Quick Hits from my Notes:

1. Curt Miller ball reminds me a lot of the Celtics. Fast-paced, driving basketball with an emphasis on finding the open three look. It was wild to watch multiple free layups get passed on for a transition three (my least favorite play in basketball, grrr.)
2. REALLY loved the way the Sparks were moving around their high screens. You can tell those nasty pivot jab steps have been worked on a lot in practice.
3. I noticed how long it was taking Phoenix to get set up in their high-screen action to get Griner one-on-one in the post. The Sparks picked up on it and forced a few misses and turnovers on that play.
4. The Sparks were having a field day in the paint today. Not so much in a scoring sense (where they outscored phoenix by 10), but Phoenix’s defense was allowing Sparks players to drive in-and-out of the paint whenever they chose, which often generated good looks at the three point line because the defenders had to drop down to protect the free layup.
5. Please let me know who hit that nasty between-the-legs pull-up jumper in transition right before the end of the first half. Made me do the stank face.

I’ll be in person to catch the next game – a date with Vegas on May 25th. This will be a real fun test for this roster, and probably give us a pretty good understanding of where the team is physically and mentally. This was fun to cover – I hope I can make it into the media room in Crypto.com arena soon. But for now, section 106 will suffice. 😊