Sparks-Sun Preview (AP)
The Los Angeles Sparks are heading to Connecticut in search of their first road win. Candace Parker not going with them won’t make getting it any easier. The Sparks continue a seven-game road trip Tuesday night when they face the Sun with Parker having left the team due to another injury. Parker hurt her right knee in the third quarter of a 77-67 loss Sunday to New York and did not return. The star forward flew to Los Angeles on Monday for an MRI, which revealed a torn meniscus. “We’re just hoping for the best,” coach Jennifer Gillom said of Parker, who is expected to miss about six weeks. “We’ve played without her before so we just have to focus on getting to the next game and playing hard, having people step up.” Parker’s season ended after 10 games last year due to a dislocated shoulder. The Sparks went 10-14 without her and had their first sub-.500 season since 2007. Her shoes will be big ones to fill for Los Angeles (4-3) because she’s among the WNBA’s top scorers and rebounders, averaging 17.7 points and 9.9 boards. Her absence from this game could be particularly tough to overcome considering Los Angeles is facing another of the league’s top frontcourt players in Tina Charles. The second-year center has four straight double-doubles, averaging 22.8 points and 11.8 rebounds. Like last season, the Sparks’ first game without Parker comes against Connecticut (4-3). Charles dominated that game with 26 points and 19 rebounds in a 78-75 win at Los Angeles. However, she was held to nine points in an 89-80 home loss to the Sparks on July 24 in the teams’ most recent meeting. Winning in Connecticut might be a lot tougher this time for Los Angeles, which is 0-3 on the road and joins league-worst Tulsa as the only teams without a road win. The Sun are 3-0 at home with each win coming by double digits. Each team enters this matchup having lost two straight overall. Connecticut’s bench was outscored 31-6 by Indiana’s reserves in a 75-70 loss Saturday. “It was ridiculous,” coach Mike Thibault said. Late turnovers buried the Sun. They rallied to get within 73-70 but Renee Montgomery’s turnover with 4.9 seconds left ended the comeback attempt. “We fought down the stretch,” said forward Asjha Jones, who had 18 points. “(It was) a game we should have won. Turnovers down the stretch took their toll on us.” The Sparks, meanwhile, had won three straight before dropping the first two games of their road swing, which ends July 15 in Tulsa. “Definitely disappointing because we know how important it is to win,” forward DeLisha Milton-Jones said. “For us to be 0-3 right now on the road is not a good thing. We’re desperately seeking a win right now.”
