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The Los Angeles Sparks’ playoff hopes took a hit on Friday night, as the team suffered a 104-85 loss at the hands of Rhyne Howard and the Atlanta Dream
Cameron Brink finished with one point and three rebounds in nine minutes off the bench, shooting 0-of-1 from the field. Brink also recorded one block.
Howard scored a game-high 37 points for Atlanta, with 29 coming in the first half. She shot 9-of-17 from behind the arc, tying the WNBA single-game record for three-pointers.
Howard dished out six assists and grabbed five rebounds as well.
The Dream led by seven points after the first quarter of the contest and held a 43-30 edge early in the second, but the Sparks immediately responded by outscoring Atlanta 22-13 to close the quarter and only trailed by four points at the half.
Los Angeles went on to tie the game multiple times in the third quarter, but never got any closer before the Dream steadily pushed their lead to double digits once again.
Atlanta led by as many as 21 points before the game came to an end.
Led by Howard, the Dream caught fire from three-point territory. They connected on 48.7 percent of their long-range jumpers as a team, with six different players hitting a triple.
The Sparks failed to match Atlanta’s three-point accuracy, shooting just 27.3 percent from behind the arc. Kelsey Plum, Rickea Jackson and Julie Allemand combined to finish 4-of-14 on three-pointers.
The loss dropped Los Angeles to 19-22 on the season, now sitting two games behind the Indiana Fever for the final playoff spot.
