Sparks vs. Liberty: Nneka Ogwumike's Buzzer-Beating 3 Caps a 17-Point Comeback for Los Angeles

No timeouts. Eight seconds and change. Erica Wheeler pushed it up the floor, drove and kicked it out to Nneka Ogwumike on the wing, because at that point, why would you throw it to anybody else?

The 25-footer dropped with 0.2 seconds on the clock, and the Los Angeles Sparks had a 98-97 win over the New York Liberty on Sunday night at crypto.com Arena. They trailed by 17 in the third quarter and led for just 6 percent of the game. It also came on the anniversary of the league's first game, which involved these same two franchises and went New York's way, 67-57, in 1997.

New York Had This One Wrapped

For almost three quarters, the Liberty played like the team that had recently won eight in a row. They scored 28 in the first and 27 in the second, took a 55-43 lead to the half and were firing from everywhere, on their way to 13 3-pointers. They pushed the lead to 17 in the third, and with 1:12 left in the period it was still 76-62.

Then Los Angeles scored the last eight points of the third and the first two of the fourth for a 10-0 run, turning a blowout into a 76-72 game. The Liberty rebuilt it to 84-76, only for the Sparks to go on an 8-0 run that tied it at 84 with 5:31 left. A 17-point lead was gone, and a crowd of 18,043 had noticed. The Sparks would win the second half 55-42, with the offense flowing through assists on 28 of their 40 baskets for the night.

From there it was a duel between Ogwumike and whoever New York could find. She scored on a layup, then from 7 feet, to put the Sparks ahead 88-85. Jonquel Jones hit a 25-foot 3 and Breanna Stewart drove in to flip it back. Ogwumike tied it at 90. Pauline Astier converted a three-point play. Ogwumike went 26 feet to tie it at 93 with 1:27 left. Astier made two more free throws. Ogwumike had just kept answering, and New York just kept having one more response ready. Right up until it didn't.

Twelve Points in 3:50

Ogwumike finished with 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting, plus six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Twelve of those points came in the final 3:50, a personal highlight package most players don't get in a season, and her only two made 3s of the night came in the last 1:27. Wheeler set up her last three baskets and finished with 15 points and five assists. Rae Burrell scored 19 off the bench and made all seven of her free throws, and Kelsey Plum put up 12 points and seven assists despite shooting 5-of-14. Dearica Hamby had 12 and eight rebounds, and Ariel Atkins added 10.

The Liberty's production was spread all over the place. Stewart and Jones had 18 apiece, with Stewart adding 10 rebounds and Jones going 4-of-7 from deep. Astier was terrific off the bench with 17 points and a perfect 9-of-9 at the line. Satou Sabally added 14 points and seven assists, Leonie Fiebich had 13, and Marine Johannes scored 10. Sabrina Ionescu was the one who never got going, finishing with two points on 1-of-3 shooting in 22 minutes.

Two Trips to the Line

Here's the part that will haunt New York. The Liberty led 95-93 when Stewart went to the line with 26.7 seconds left. She'd been shooting 87.5 percent from the stripe coming into the game, according to the AP. She made one of two. Burrell then hit a pair with 10.3 seconds remaining to make it 96-95, and Stewart got fouled almost immediately on the other end. Again, she made one of two.

Those two misses were the only ones she had on the night, as she finished 2-of-4. Make either one, and Ogwumike's 3 ties the game instead of winning it. Credit the Sparks for making the most of the door being left open. With no timeouts remaining, there was no chance to set anything up, and they still executed the final trip like they had drawn it up in the morning.

Stats That Matter

• 60-42: The Sparks' advantage in the paint, the steady engine underneath all the late fireworks.
• 17-9: Total turnovers, New York and Los Angeles. The Liberty gave it away nearly twice as often.
• 38-26: New York's rebounding margin, one of several categories it won in a loss.
• 13-of-36 vs. 9-of-27: New York's 12-point edge from deep wasn't enough, since LA shot 52 percent overall.
• 6 percent: The share of the game the Sparks spent in the lead. They only needed the last 0.2 seconds of it to count.

What It Means

Los Angeles moves to 8-8 and improves to 3-6 at home, and it snaps a two-game skid after losses to Golden State and Minnesota. The Sparks are at Toronto on Thursday.

New York falls to 11-6 and 5-2 on the road. This is New York's second straight loss since that eight-game winning streak ended, and three more road games stand between the Liberty and a June 30 home date with the Aces for the Commissioner's Cup title. The first of those is at Las Vegas on Tuesday, so they'll get a look at that opponent before it counts for hardware.

Some Reboots Beat the Original

Hollywood loves a reboot, and most of them are worse than the source material. Back in 1997, New York won this matchup 67-57. On Sunday, both teams had already blown past that winning total by the end of the third quarter, and the rematch came with a far better ending, at least for the side that lost the original. Los Angeles is a town that knows how to do a remake, and Ogwumike just delivered one from 25 feet.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press.