It wasn’t the best of starts for the Los Angeles Spark’s regular season campaign. A sold-out Walter Pyramid in Long Beach witnessed the 3x WNBA champions go down 81-92 against the Atlanta Dream. Despite Cameron Brink stepping up to the plate, the home team couldn’t deal with the turbulence in the fourth quarter caused by the visitors. Following this, head coach Curt Miller evaluated his team’s defeat in the post-game media address. Surprisingly, there was only one person he could put the blame on for this setback.

The 55-year-old began the press conference by commending the special efforts of the team’s top performers Dearica Hamby and Kia Nurse. Anyhow, he then shifted the focus to himself and stated that the loss was on him. Miller said, “I take it as my responsibility that a lot of starters got tired at the end of the third quarter. All at one time and I had to substitute more players at one time in the start of the fourth quarter than I would have liked.”

Both teams began the fourth quarter tied at 66. As a result of the aforementioned decisions by Miller, Atlanta went on a 9-0 quarter-opening dream run, which proved to be too much for the Sparks in the end. Despite a 6-0 run of their own in the final few minutes of this game, the Sparks could only garner 15 points which were 11 less than what Atlanta managed in the fourth.

For the Sparks, Nurse had a team-high 25 points, while Layshia Clarendon had a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Dearica Hamby had 20 points along with 14 rebounds. The Sparks’ rookies had decent outings as well, with Brink recording 11 points, 4 assists, and 2 rebounds while Rickea Jackson had 7 points off the bench. But it wasn’t enough

Nonetheless, they can still turn the tides in their favor. However, they will have a task at hand when they go up against the two-time defending champions Las Vegas Aces next.

Cameron Brink and the Sparks face a formidable foe next

The next fixture lined up for LA is a scorching battle in the deserts of Las Vegas. Cameron Brink will be traveling to the Michelob ULTRA Arena to face off against back-to-back WNBA champions. The Aces are coming off a comfortable win in their own backyard over Diana Taurasi’s Phoenix Mercury.

Moreover, the 2023 WNBA Finals MVP A’ja Wilson is in red-hot form as she delivered game-best figures of 30 points and 13 rebounds. Further, other players such as Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum also looked in decent touch in their regular season opener.

Surely, it will be an uphill task for Cameron Brink’s franchise. Nonetheless, the team is not short of players who can step up and overcome any challenge. Still, there are some departments that require attention before they embark on their journey to Vegas.