The L.A. Sparks began play in the fourth Commissioner’s Cup Sunday with an 87-68 loss at Phoenix in a game they only led for 28 seconds, losing for the fourth time in five games.
Sophie Cunningham and Kaleah Copper made 3-point baskets during an 8-2 run that gave the Mercury a 16-7 lead with 3 minutes, 37 seconds left in the first quarter. The Sparks responded by scoring the final eight points of the quarter on Dearica Hamby’s 3-point basket, her later free throw and two free throws each by Kia Nurse and Rickea Jackson.
Nurse scored the first points of the second quarter on a running layup after Aari McDonald’s steal and assist.
However, Phoenix went on a 15-0 run to take a 31-17 lead with Natasha Cloud scoring six points and the Sparks missing eight shots, including four layups and three 3-point shots, and committing four turnovers.
The Sparks trailed 39-22 at halftime and 68-46 entering the fourth quarter. They trailed by at least 11 and as many as 24 in the second half in front of a crowd announced at 10,207 at Footprint Center.
Diana Taurasi led four Mercury starters in double figures with 31 points, 20 in the second half. Cloud added 21, Copper 12 and Cunningham 10 as Phoenix (4-5) ended a four-game losing streak.
Hamby led the Sparks (2-6) with 23 while Nurse added 12.
The Sparks have the third-worst record in the 12-team league. Only the 2-9 Indiana Fever and 0-8 Washington Mystics have worse records. The Sparks’ only victories have come over the Mystics and the Caitlin Clark-led Fever.
The Sparks were without starting guard Layshia Clarendon for the third consecutive game. She is in the concussion protocol after suffering a head injury last Sunday. The Sparks are 1-2 during her absence.
The WNBA has reconfigured the format of its in-season tournament, designating all games between Saturday and June 13 as Commissioner’s Cup games. Each team will play every other team in its six-team conference once during the competition.
The teams with the best records in Commissioner’s Cup games in each conference will meet for the championship June 25 at the arena of the team with the best record in cup play, with a $500,000 prize pool at stake. Coinbase, the tournament’s presenting sponsor, has committed an additional $120,000 in cryptocurrency to the prize pool, including $5,000 for each player in the championship game.
The WNBA will again make charitable contributions to nonprofit organizations aligned to the teams’ social justice work in connection with Commissioner’s Cup play. The winning team in each game will receive a monetary donation of $3,000 for their chosen local organization while the losing teams will earn $1,000 for their selected organization.
An additional $10,000 donation will be made to the nonprofit organization aligned with the winner of the Commissioner’s Cup Championship and $5,000 will be made to the organization of the runner-up. The donations will be presented to each organization at the conclusion of the Commissioner’s Cup championship.
The 2024 beneficiaries “highlight civic engagement efforts, with an emphasis on the impact of voting on reproductive health matters within communities of color and the LGBTQ+ community,” according to the league.
The Sparks’ designated charity is the Feminist Majority Foundation, which bills itself as “a cutting-edge organization dedicated to women’s equality, reproductive health and nonviolence.”
Each Commissioner’s Cup game will be played with a basketball with alternating black and white panels. WNBA games are regularly played with basketballs with alternating orange and white panels.