The Los Angeles Sparks entered Friday’s game having won five games in a row. Their opponent, the Atlanta Dream, entered the game having lost nine games in a row.
You wouldn’t know it from the first 39 minutes and 56.3 seconds. But from the final 3.7 seconds of regulation, and the five-minute overtime period, it was abundantly clear which team is contending for a WNBA title, and which team is furiously hitting the “rebuild” button.
The Sparks flexed their star muscles early, outscoring the Dream 25-17 in the opening quarter, and taking a double-digit lead early in the second half.