Jackie Young (game- and career-high 30 points) buried three treys over a span of two minutes and four seconds in the fourth quarter so that the Las Vegas Aces could maintain a lead over the Los Angeles Sparks and win 94-85 Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Young was 4-of-7 from three and 12-of-18 from the field in the game, which did not feature Sparks superstar Nneka Ogwumike, who was out with a non-COVID illness.
Despite N. Ogwumike’s absence, the Sparks (1-1) led by as much as 12 and were in control until late in the third quarter. They played with a ton of spirit, right down to when Karlie Samuelson hit a deep three to cut their deficit to five with 59 seconds remaining. LA would get no closer over the remainder of the game, but it certainly frustrated A’ja Wilson and the super-team Aces (2-0), who were playing without head coach Becky Hammon. Hammon was serving the second and final game of her suspension for the way she handled offseason negotiations with Dearica Hamby, who is now on the Sparks and had 11 points and three steals on Thursday.
Wilson (19 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks) was called for a technical and a flagrant 1 not far apart in the third, contributing to the Sparks regaining a double-digit lead. But not long after that, the Aces…
