Sun vs. Sparks: Olivia Nelson-Ododa's 18 and 11 Lead Connecticut Past Los Angeles in Boston

The Connecticut Sun have a moving van on order, a record that would make a lesser franchise hide under the scorer's table, and a home game on the schedule in a city that is not technically their home. So naturally, on a Tuesday night at TD Garden, they looked like the most comfortable team in Boston.

Olivia Nelson-Ododa posted 18 points and 11 rebounds, Kennedy Burke dropped 17, and the Sun beat the Los Angeles Sparks 85-77 in front of 16,378. The final score flatters LA. Connecticut was up 21 with a little over six minutes to go, and the Sparks never held a lead at any point in the night.

The Sun Never Let Go of the Rope

Connecticut set the tone before anybody had finished finding their seats. A pull-up 3 from Diamond Miller made it 7-2, Nelson-Ododa started feasting inside, and the Sun had 27 points by the end of the first quarter. Los Angeles hung around in the second, getting within 40-34 on a Rae Burrell 3, until Nelson-Ododa's and-one with 2:01 left in the half rebuilt the cushion. Burrell scored late to trim it, and the teams went to the locker room at 46-40.

Six points is nothing at halftime. Then the third quarter happened, and it happened quickly. Nelson-Ododa opened the half with another three-point play, Burke buried a 3, Miller finished at the rim, and LA burned a timeout with the look of a team checking its phone for an earlier flight. The official ledger records an 11-0 run that straddled the break, and when it ended with 7:38 left in the third, the Sun led 56-40. The quarter finished 26-15, and Connecticut took a 72-55 lead into the fourth.

To their credit, the Sparks made the last six minutes interesting for anyone who stayed to do the math. From 78-57, Los Angeles outscored Connecticut 20-7 the rest of the way, including a 9-0 burst that got it to 66-78. Dearica Hamby scored on three layups in a span of 2:18, and Burrell kept attacking off the dribble. The Sparks never got closer than eight in that stretch, which is also exactly where it ended.

Nelson-Ododa Played Like She Owned the Lease

Nelson-Ododa was the best player on the floor for long stretches. She had 13 of her points by halftime, shot 7 of 11 from the field and 4 of 4 from the line, grabbed four offensive boards among her 11 rebounds and blocked two shots. The team's notes make it her fifth double-double of the season. The five turnovers were the only smudge on an otherwise tidy night.

Burke was the quiet killer. She took only four 3s and made three, went 7 of 12 overall, and added two late finishes to shut down LA's rally, including an alley-oop from Charlisse Leger-Walker. Leila Lacan never needed to score to run this game, piling up a season-high 10 assists, per the Sun, to go with seven points. Miller chipped in 13 on 6-of-11 shooting, and Saniya Rivers came off the bench for 11 points and four steals, a couple of which she cashed in herself at the other end.

Los Angeles got 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and six assists from Burrell, its best player on the night. Nneka Ogwumike added 18 and seven rebounds, and Hamby scored 15, though it took her 14 shots and came with four turnovers. The bigger issue was everything around that trio. The Sparks went 2 of 16 from deep, and you do not need an analytics department to diagnose that one.

The Two Minutes That Settled It

A six-point game at the half is a coin flip on most nights. It took Connecticut 2:22 of the third quarter to turn it into a distant memory. That sequence had everything the Sun had been missing during a stretch that included a 104-69 home loss to Atlanta: a big drawing contact, a shooter who stayed ready and a scorer finishing at the rim.

The timeout accomplished nothing. By the time LA scored again, the lead had reached 16, and the Sparks spent the rest of the night chasing a game that had already left the building.

Stats That Matter

• Fast-break points: Connecticut 23, Los Angeles 9. The Sun made this a track meet, and LA never found the starting blocks.
• 3-point shooting: Sparks 2 of 16, a frigid 13 percent. The Sun took only 12 but made four.
• Points in the paint: Sun 54, Sparks 48. Not a massive gap, but it came with 51 percent shooting overall.
• Assists: Connecticut had 23 on 36 made baskets, with Lacan's 10 leading the way.
• Fourth-quarter scoring: Los Angeles won it 22-13 and still lost by eight, which tells you how deep the hole was.

Boston Was a Nice Stop, but the Standings Are Still the Standings

The Sun moved to 9-25 overall and 6-12 at home. The win stopped a two-game slide that featured that Atlanta beatdown and an 82-75 loss to New York, and it gave Connecticut a second win over Los Angeles this season after an 84-81 decision on May 30. The AP noted this was the third straight year the franchise has played a game in Boston, and next season the team is headed to Houston, so every one of these nights comes with a countdown clock attached.

The Sparks are going the wrong way in a hurry. At 12-23 and 7-12 on the road, they have now lost five straight and 12 of their last 14. Next up is Atlanta at home on Thursday, which is not exactly a get-well card. The Sun travel to Las Vegas the same night.

A Farewell Tour With a Decent Setlist

Think of this one as a veteran band stopping in a city that is not on its usual route. Record sales are rough, the label is moving the whole operation out of town, and nobody is confusing this with a world tour. But 16,378 people showed up, the headliner hit her notes, and the Sun got to play the hits for a night. At 9-25, that counts as a great gig.

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