Sparks vs. Fire: Nneka Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby Post Double-Doubles as L.A. Snaps Three-Game Skid

For one half on Sunday, the Los Angeles Sparks looked exactly like the team that walked in allowing more points than anyone in the WNBA. Portland went into the break up 43-41 at crypto.com Arena. Then the Fire scored 12 points in the third quarter, their lowest output in any quarter this season, and a game that had felt like a coin flip turned into a Sparks party.

Nneka Ogwumike grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds to go with 20 points, Dearica Hamby added 22 points and 12 boards, and Los Angeles beat the Portland Fire 89-72 to end a three-game losing streak. The Sparks moved to 5-6. Portland fell to 6-7 in the teams' first regular-season meeting since 2002.

One Half of Basketball, One Half of Demolition

The opening 20 minutes were a genuine back-and-forth. L.A. used an 8-0 run to go up 15-9 and led 24-21 after one. Portland answered with an 8-0 run of its own in the second, flipping a 32-25 deficit into a 33-32 lead, and the Fire carried that momentum to a two-point edge at the half.

It lasted a little over a minute. The Sparks scored nine straight to open up a 50-43 lead by the 6:51 mark of the third, and the rest of the period was a horror show for the visitors. Portland shot 5 of 14 and committed nine turnovers in the quarter, six of them on Sparks steals, while Kelsey Plum piled up nine points and two assists and Hamby scored seven. L.A. went up 64-55 with a 23-12 quarter.

The play of the game came early in the fourth. Plum picked Carla Leite's pocket and threw ahead to Hamby for a fast-break layup, finishing an 11-2 run and making it 75-57 with 6:07 to play, the biggest lead of the day. Portland made the final score a little less embarrassing for a minute, getting within 84-72 with 29.5 seconds left. Ogwumike's 22-foot three and a Hamby basket in the last 7.1 seconds took care of that.

Ogwumike and Hamby Owned the Glass

Ogwumike was 8 of 14 from the field and 2 of 6 from three, and she pulled down six offensive rebounds among her 17 while finishing plus-24. This was her third straight double-double and fifth of the season, and the Sparks counted it as the 120th of her career, sixth all-time. It was also the third time she has put up at least 20 points and 17 rebounds in a game, second in franchise history behind the four by Lisa Leslie.

Hamby matched her energy. She scored 22 on 8-of-14 shooting, went 6 of 10 at the line and grabbed 12 rebounds, six of them on the offensive end, while reaching 400 career steals. Between them, the two veterans had 42 points, 29 rebounds and more second chances than Portland could account for.

Plum filled the rest of the sheet with 16 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals. Erica Wheeler scored just six points but finished a career-high plus-32, which tells you how good the Sparks were when she was out there. Rae Burrell gave them 10 off the bench.

For Portland, Megan DiLeo had 16 points and 11 rebounds, seven of them offensive, for what the AP called her first double-double since 2023. Leite and Emily Engstler scored 10 apiece, though Leite needed 13 shots and went 2 of 6 at the line. Sarah Ashlee Barker, who played her rookie season for the Sparks, came back to town with six points and seven assists on 2-of-8 shooting. The rest of the perimeter never got going, with Frieda Buhner at 3 of 10 and Teja Oblak at 1 of 7, though Oblak did finish plus-4, the only Fire player on the right side of the ledger.

The Third Quarter Flipped the Scouting Report

Coming into this game, the Sparks' own preview had the matchup pegged one way: the Fire ranked third in the league in scoring off turnovers, and L.A. committed the second-most turnovers per game. Sunday's third quarter turned that scouting report completely upside down.

L.A. finished with 11 steals and just 12 total turnovers, and Portland managed only nine points off them. The Fire gave it away 17 times, and the Sparks scored 23 points on the other end. That 14-point difference accounts for most of the final margin, and the nine Portland giveaways in the third were the heart of it. A team that had shot its way to a halftime lead suddenly could not get a clean look, and the Fire never found the rhythm they had in the first half.

Stats That Matter

• 3 of 28: Portland from three, a season-worst 10.7% that also tied the Fire's season low in makes.
• 23-9: The Sparks' edge in points off turnovers.
• 72: The fewest points L.A. has allowed this season, from a team that came in giving up 93 a night, the most in the league.
• 17: The final margin, the Sparks' largest in a win this season.

What It Means

Los Angeles is 5-6 and just 2-5 at home, so this was a needed one, and a Wednesday trip to Seattle gives the Sparks a shot at a little momentum. Both of these teams came in trying to end a losing streak, and only one of them did.

Portland has now lost a season-high three straight and four of five, sits at 6-7 and is 2-3 on the road. The Fire head home to host Las Vegas on Thursday, which is not exactly a get-well matchup.

Reboots Still Get Bad Episodes

The newly revived Fire have been one of the more entertaining comeback stories of the season, and 6-7 is a respectable place for a reboot to be sitting in June. But even the best reboots have the episode you skip on the rewatch, and Sunday's third quarter was it. L.A., on the other hand, might want to keep that one on a loop.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press. Team notes from the Los Angeles Sparks.