Brooklyn, N.Y. – On August 13, the New York Liberty hosted the Los Angeles Sparks at Barclays Center, as the long-time rivals looked to pick up a victory during WNBA Rivals Week. Unfortunately for the Sparks, they were unable to complete what would have been a historic comeback, suffering an 85-81 loss against the Liberty.
New York got off to a very hot start in the first two quarters, heading into the half with a dominant 49-32 lead. While the Liberty were playing the perfect game, the Sparks were having one of their worst offensive first-half performances all season.
Jonquel Jones was the dominant force in the first two periods of the game, recording a double-double before both teams even headed back to the locker room.
The Liberty held Los Angeles down once again in the third quarter, holding them to just nine points and increasing the lead to 67-41.
However, the tide changed completely as the game entered its final period. The Sparks scored a combined 41 points in the first three quarters, but dropped a shocking 40 in the fourth, the most the franchise has ever scored in a quarter.
The scoreboard saw the Sparks down 69-41 early in the fourth, which is when they decided to completely flip the switch. LA went on an unstoppable 21-0 run, led by Rae Burrell’s 20 points in the quarter. Burrell scored a career-high 28 points in the outing, putting on one of the best games of her career.
With 26.6 seconds left in the Rivals Week matchup, the Liberty were up by just three and were close to suffering what would have been one of the greatest collapses in WNBA history. New York was up 82-79, though a reverse layup by Burrell with 22 seconds left turned what was originally looking like a blowout into a one-point game.
Unfortunately for the Sparks, they were unable to pull off the historic comeback. Sabrina Ionescu was ultimately able to hit three free throws in the last 15 seconds of the game, to give the Liberty a razor-close 85-81 victory.
“It’s a learning experience that the game’s never over, and we got to continue to play our style of basketball, play fast, get stops, kind of play how we did the first three,” said Ionescu.
Ionescu finished the game with 20 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists, though was unable to maintain consistency throughout the game as she shot just 1-for-9 from the perimeter. Jones was crucial to getting the victory for New York, ending with 11 points and an absurd 18 rebounds, and both Breanna Stewart and Rebecca Allen scored 11 and 12 points respectively.
Despite LA being unable to mount the comeback, Burrell ended the night with the best scoring outing of her career, while hitting five threes in the process. Dearica Hamby poured in 16 points, while Nneka Ogwumike finished with a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double.
Cameron Brink went down midway through the fourth quarter for the Sparks after a collision with Stewart, and an official injury update has not yet been provided. Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts put the injury in her own words as a “brutal hit to the ribs.”
With this win, the Liberty improved their record to 21-14 and jumped up two spots to the sixth seed. With the playoffs approaching, they’ll now travel to Connecticut to take on the Sun in what should certainly be a winnable matchup for them. The same, however, cannot be said for the 12-21 Sparks, as the chances of them competing in the postseason have become even more unlikely. With that said, LA is not yet mathematically eliminated from the 2026 WNBA Playoffs, though they’ll have to start a major winning streak this Saturday against the Washington Mystics.
