The Los Angeles Sparks entered the 2020 WNBA season with high expectations and a great deal of hype, ready to wash away the taste of a disappointing end to 2019.
For one game at least, they lived up to those lofty goals, putting together a dominating effort against another preseason favorite in the Phoenix Mercury, winning 99-76. They blew the game open in the third quarter, outscoring the Mercury 30-8 to build a 26-point advantage.
It would have been fair to expect some sloppy play, as the Sparks didn’t play any preseason games, and a few of their players didn’t even play overseas during the WNBA offseason, including Nneka Ogwumike and Candace Parker.