New York faces Los Angeles after Ionescu’s 31-point performance
Los Angeles Sparks (4-12, 2-6 Western Conference) at New York Liberty (13-3, 9-1 Eastern Conference)
New York; Saturday, 3 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: New York Liberty hosts the Los Angeles Sparks after Sabrina Ionescu scored 31 points in the New York Liberty’s 93-80 win against the Los Angeles Sparks.
The Liberty have gone 7-1 at home. New York leads the WNBA with 13.5 fast break points per game.
The Sparks are 1-8 in road games. Los Angeles is ninth in the WNBA with 33.8 rebounds per game. Dearica Hamby leads the Sparks with 10.8.
New York averages 10.2 made 3-pointers per game, 2.2 more made shots than the 8.0 per game Los Angeles gives up. Los Angeles averages 77.3 points per game, 0.7 fewer than the 78.0 New York allows.
The teams meet for the second time this season. The Liberty won 93-80 in the last matchup on June 20.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jonquel Jones is averaging 17.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists for the Liberty. Breanna Stewart is averaging 19.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.1 steals over the last 10 games.
Hamby is averaging 17.7 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists for the Sparks. Aari McDonald is averaging 1.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Liberty: 9-1, averaging 89.2 points, 37.0 rebounds, 24.3 assists, 8.2 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 46.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.5 points per game.
Sparks: 2-8, averaging 75.9 points, 33.9 rebounds, 19.1 assists, 7.0 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 41.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 85.5 points.
INJURIES: Liberty: None listed.
Sparks: Julie Allemand: out for season (ankle), Cameron Brink: out for season (acl), Azura Stevens: out (arm).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.