LA Sparks vs Phoenix Mercury Players Stats and Box Scores for June 2 | 2024 WNBA Season

By Joey Haverford

Modified Jun 03, 2024 02:04 GMT

The LA Sparks vs Phoenix Mercury matchup saw the Sparks looking to gain their third win of the 2024 WNBA season. Phoenix entered the game with a four-game losing streak after their hot 3-1 start to the season. The Sparks hoped to benefit from facing a struggling Mercury team, but both teams badly needed the win to keep up in the playoff race.

The Mercury ended their losing streak with a dominant win to protect their home court. The final score of 87-68 showed Phoenix in full command by the closing quarter. Los Angeles' tough loss lowers their record to 2-6. Phoenix inches closer to a .500 record by getting up to a 4-5 record after just nine games.

LA Sparks vs Phoenix Mercury game player stats and box scores

Los Angeles Sparks game player stats and box scores

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	FG	3-PT FG	FT	+/-
D. Hamby	23	4	2	3	0	3	9-12	3-3	2-4	-10
C. Brink	6	5	1	0	2	2	3-6	0-1	0-1	-17
R. Jackson	9	7	1	0	0	0	3-10	1-2	2-2	-12
L. Brown	0	3	2	0	0	3	0-5	0-2	0-0	-10
K. Nurse	12	1	4	0	0	1	3-10	1-6	5-6	-10
S. Talbot	5	4	1	0	0	2	2-4	1-1	0-0	-4
L. Yueru	2	2	1	0	0	1	1-3	0-0	0-0	-9
A. McDonald	3	2	5	1	0	3	1-5	1-4	0-0	-8
R. Burrell	0	1	0	1	0	2	0-1	0-1	0-0	-9
Z. Cooke	8	2	1	0	0	1	2-4	2-3	2-2	-6

Phoenix Mercury game player stats and box scores

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	FG	3-P FG	FT	+/-
N. Mack	4	12	1	0	1	1	2-4	0-0	0-0	+21
D. Taurasi	31	2	0	2	0	3	9-14	7-9	6-6	+13
N. Cloud	21	3	12	2	2	2	7-16	3-5	4-7	+22
K. Copper	12	3	0	1	0	4	4-13	2-6	2-2	+10
S. Cunningham	10	5	4	1	0	2	3-8	1-4	3-3	+26
M. Herbert Harrigan	2	3	0	2	2	1	1-4	0-2	0-0	-2
L. Dixon	2	3	1	0	0	0	1-3	0-0	0-0	-1
S. Sutton	5	2	2	3	0	1	1-4	1-3	2-2	+6

LA Sparks vs Phoenix Mercury game summary

The LA Sparks vs Phoenix Mercury matchup looked quite even in the early stages of the game. Phoenix only led by one point after the first quarter, with a 16-15 lead heading into the second quarter. Diana Taurasi and Natasha Cloud stepped up to help the Mercury take over the second quarter and seize control for the rest of the game.

The Sparks' strong first-quarter defense fell apart as they gave up 23 and 29 points, respectively, in the second and third quarters. Phoenix built a big lead heading into halftime, with the score of 39-22 showing the game getting out of reach rather quickly. Los Angeles’ offensive woes saw them scoring just 7 total team points in the entire second quarter.

Dearica Hamby, Kia Nurse, and Cameron Brink tried to help the Sparks cut into the lead, but it continued to build in the Mercury’s favor. Phoenix held a commanding 68-46 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The game was too out of reach for Los Angeles to have a feasible chance at coming back from the large deficit, but they outscored the Mercury in the fourth quarter 22-19.

The final score of 87-68 saw Phoenix holding on for a decisive victory after dominating most of the game. Sparks guard Lexie Brown left the game after just 12 minutes of gameplay due to an ankle injury. Brown did not return and spent the rest of the game watching the difficult loss from the bench. The next LA Sparks vs Phoenix Mercury matchup will be on June 28, 2024 in Phoenix.

Natasha Cloud, Diana Taurasi and Dearica Hamby all had great shooting nights

The Phoenix Mercury’s big win came thanks to Natasha Cloud and Diana Taurasi both delivering stellar offensive games. Taurasi led all scorers with 31 points on 9-for-14 shooting from the field and an incredible 7-for-9 shooting from three-point range. Cloud added 21 points and 12 assists while shooting 7-for-16 from the field.

Dearica Hamby had a strong game for the Los Angeles Sparks. She had a team-high 23 points while shooting shooting 9-for-12 from the field and 3-for-3 from three-point range. Hamby regressed from her 12.7 rebounds per game to a season-low four rebounds in the defeat.