Sparks’ rally falls short in season-ending loss in Dallas

Win oregon spell fishing.

And contempt a spirited effort, the Sparks volition battalion their bags. They’ll timepiece retired pursuing a tumultuous 2021 play aft they fto a playoff berth gaffe distant Sunday successful Dallas, wherever a triumph would person secured the eighth effect and a WNBA playoff berth.

It wasn’t to be: The Sparks mislaid 87-84 to the Wings, who swept their 3 games against L.A. this season.

The new-look Sparks — who mislaid stars Candace Parker and Chelsea Gray successful escaped bureau earlier the play — decorativeness the play 12-20 and volition miss the playoffs for the 5th clip successful the franchise’s 25-year past and the archetypal clip since 2011.

With the Sparks’ nonaccomplishment and Washington’s nonaccomplishment earlier Sunday, New York claims the eighth effect and the last playoff spot due to the fact that the Liberty held the tiebreaker betwixt the 3 teams.

Additionally, the Wings (14-18) secured a lottery prime successful adjacent year’s draft; they ain the Sparks’ first-round prime adjacent play due to the fact that of a commercialized the Sparks made to determination up successful this year’s draft. With the seventh pick, they selected Jasmine Walker, a 6-foot-3 helping who showed committedness successful the preseason but was sidelined by a torn anterior cruciate ligament successful the 2nd crippled of the regular season. With L.A.’s nonaccomplishment Sunday, the Atlanta Dream volition person the second-best likelihood and Dallas volition person the fourth.

The sole remaining prima of the Sparks’ erstwhile “Big Three,” Nneka Ogwumike missed a career-high 14 games with a genu wounded this season. On Sunday, she played inspired basketball, giving the Sparks 18 points and 10 rebounds. She besides had 4 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals.

L.A. led 54-52 with 4:27 to spell successful the 3rd play earlier Dallas pulled ahead, gathering a pb arsenic ample arsenic 13.

The Sparks chopped the shortage to 4 points down the agelong and past to 3 — 87-84 — connected Erica Wheeler’s 3-pointer with 7.4 seconds left.

After Wings defender Allisha Gray missed some free-throw attempts — the lone foul shots Dallas missed each day — with 6.9 seconds, the Sparks inactive had immoderate beingness left.

But they couldn’t convert, arsenic Wheeler missed a heavy 3-point effort and Satou Sabally tracked down the game-sealing rebound for the Wings.

Arike Ogunbowale led Dallas with 20 points connected 7-for-11 shooting, including going 4 for 6 from 3-point range.

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