The Los Angeles Sparks stunned the short-handed New York Liberty on Saturday, earning a 101-99 win off a walk-off layup from Rickea Jackson.
New York was playing without star forward Breanna Stewart, who was ruled out with a lower leg injury at halftime after exiting the game just 3 1/2 minutes in.
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Despite losing Stewart, and the Sparks’ early lead, the Liberty gained significant momentum in the second half behind strong performances from Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Cloud to turn the game around. The surging Liberty erased a 15-point deficit to tie with the Sparks late, but Jackson punctuated her 24-point performance with a game-winner in the final five seconds.
Less than four minutes into the game, Stewart appeared to pull up while running in transition. She then put her hands on her knees and rested for a moment as the Liberty took a timeout. Kennedy Burke came in for Stewart, who headed into the locker room shortly afterward.
Stewart scored just three points, sinking a 3-pointer early on. The veteran’s injury comes after a series of slow games: Prior to Friday, Stewart had scored in single digits in two of her past three games.
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The extent of Stewart’s injury is unclear, but it’s a major blow for the Liberty.
After a close start, the Sparks began to pull away toward the end of the first half, going up by as many as 15 points by halftime.
The Liberty started to make up some ground in the third quarter, getting back within five before L.A. pulled away again. Even while down, New York picked up some extra momentum from the Barclays Center crowd, and from a very fired up Ionescu, who earned a technical after an illegal screen call took back a key 3-pointer.
(Per the broadcast, Ellie the Elephant was just as fired up; unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any footage of the mascot losing her cool.)
Ionescu and Cloud dominated the second half for the Liberty to threaten Los Angeles’ lead. Ionescu ended with a game-high 30 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, while Cloud put up 22 points and nine assists along with some key defensive plays.
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But the Sparks held strong to pull off the narrow win. Dearica Hamby and Azurá Stevenson both ended with 17-point double-doubles, while Kelsey Plum had 20 points and eight assists.
Saturday marks a much-needed win for the 10th-place Sparks, who move to 11-14 and get closer to the teams in the top half of the standings. Los Angeles has now won five straight games and is showing some real momentum after a slower start to the season.
Plus, the Sparks are likely to get some extra help in the frontcourt soon, as sophomore center Cameron Brink has been cleared to return after missing a year with a torn ACL.
