Liberty defeat the Sparks, who lose Cameron Brink just before halftime

Los Angeles Times

16 hours ago

Almost hidden in a mocha pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt, and crowned with those same fire-red Air Jordans from his Aug. 4 return to Los Angeles, Clippers royalty Chris Paul adorned the Sparks' bench.
And though the 20-year veteran barely lifted a palm — leaving the cheering to his wife and daughter — Paul's court savvy still seemed to seep across the hardwood, finding its way to the Sparks' Kelsey Plum.
Plum, who can very well be the tale of any Sparks game, but 'chooses to win,' as coach Lynne Roberts says, seemed to be scoring and assisting at will through a coast-to-coast battle against the New York Liberty, a tug-of-war that stayed taut until the rope finally slipped from the Sparks' grasp, 105-97.
The Sparks' stalwart would finish with 26 points alongside five rebounds and five assists.
Across the court, with veteran Breanna Stewart sitting due to a right knee bone bruise, the internationally seasoned presence of Emma Meeseman assumed control to keep the Liberty's offense in rhythm, its poise intact and restart its win streak.
Emma Meeseman, who made her Liberty debut soon after Stewart's exit, looked nothing like someone fresh off a lengthy league layoff on Thursday. The 2019 Finals MVP returned Aug. 3 after a three-year hiatus from the WNBA — time she spent competing for Belgium — and strung together a season-high 24 points alongside nine boards against the Sparks.
Stewart took the hit to her knee during the last edition of the East-West rivalry on July 26. And that was also a game before Sparks sophomore star Cameron Brink returned from a 13-month-long left knee injury.
About three minutes before halftime, Brink sat on the bench while trainers wrapped her knee during a Sparks timeout. She never joined the team's halftime huddle as play resumed after the break, and when she finally emerged at the 6:17 mark in the third quarter, she would stay on the bench to watch the rest of the game from her seat.
At halftime, a Sparks spokesperson told The Times that there was no update on Brink's exit to the locker room.
In absence of the Sparks' most threatening defensive presence, though, Dearica Hamby and Azurá Stevens policed the key and cleaned up under the rim to ensure the Sparks stayed close. The two combined for 38 points and 12 rebounds by night's end.
The loudest battle, however, seemed to be the fans versus the officials.
Fans groaned and barked over whistles — and the no-calls in between — as the night wore on. Roberts shared the mood, zeroing in on referee Tyler Mirkovich during a defensive sequence late in the second quarter. She sustained dialogue through the ensuing timeout, punctuating her point with a seemingly sarcastic double thumbs-up in Mirkovich's direction.
Whether the whistles were true or not may be argued long after the final horn, but no call was going to bail the Sparks out of a 10-point ditch with 22 seconds left to play.