Sparks eager to host Caitlin Clark, Fever at Crypto.com Arena
TORRANCE — When rookies Caitlin Clark, Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson inevitably take the court at Crypto.com Arena for Friday night’s game between the Sparks and the Indiana Fever, three of the top four picks in last month’s WNBA draft will be playing in front of a packed arena and a nationally televised audience on ION.
The arrival of Clark, the No. 1 selection, Brink, the No. 2 pick and Jackson, the No. 4 selection, all three recent college stars at Iowa, Stanford and Tennessee, respectively, will continue to usher in a new era of women’s basketball in the WNBA and Los Angeles.
“It’s exciting. We’re both two teams in rebuild mode,” Sparks guard Lexie Brown said after Thursday’s practice at the team’s training facility at El Camino College. “We both have superstar rookies on our teams, so I’m just excited that the building is going to be packed and I’m hoping that we come out and play our game.”
Brown spoke candidly about Clark’s role in the growth of women’s basketball and the notoriety the Fever currently have because of her presence.
“For the organization and the W, it’s amazing,” Brown said. “For her, it must be a lot of pressure and I think she’s handling it pretty well. She’s still playing very well despite the losses so we’re all looking at her. We’re all very proud of her and we’re really glad that she game to W and she’s doing her thing but again, we’re all competitors at the end of the day so it doesn’t matter who you are, what you bring to the table, everyone is trying to win.”
The Sparks (1-2) are coming off a 70-68 win against the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night at Long Beach State. Sparks forward Dearica Hamby leads her team with 22 points and 13.7 rebounds per game on 59.1% shooting from the field.
The Fever (0-5) are coming off an 85-83 road loss to the Seattle Storm on Wednesday. Clark is the Fever’s leading scorer with 17.8 points and 5.8 assists, while shooting 40.3% from the field and 32.6% from 3-point range. Aliyah Boston, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, has averaged 8.4 points and 6.2 rebounds on 38.8% shooting from the field. Indiana has narrowly lost its last two games by a combined seven points.
Sparks coach Curt Miller knows his team’s transition defense must try to limit the Fever’s fast-break offense.
“Transition defense is huge, that’s where it all starts (Friday) for us at the defensive end,” Miller said. “They are trying to create an identity of pushing and there’s so many clips already early in the year, not only off misses and off turnovers really trying to create tempo but even off makes. So they’re playing really, really fast with a great pace so we’ve got to match that coming out. We’ve got to match that energy that they have up and down the floor to the offensive end. Transition defense is a big part of our success.”
Sparks guard Zia Cooke, a popular player in her own right after winning the 2022 NCAA title at South Carolina alongside Boston, is excited for the matchup.
“I think it’s great for women’s basketball, it’s great for the league, especially for the W,” said Cooke, the No. 10 pick in the 2023 draft. “I know Crypto is going to be rocking so I can’t wait to see everybody in the arena for us. We want to put on a show for sure.”
“Visibility is at an all-time high in our league,” Miller added. “This is what I would love to have Crypto look like each and every night. The women deserve it.”
Cooke said there’s nothing like the energy players get from playing in front of a packed arena.
“I’m looking forward to the energy, the atmosphere that Sparks arena is going to have for us,” Cooke continued. “That’s something that I’m really looking forward to and of course just being on the floor. This is my second year, so being in Crypto, every time I step on that floor, I step on it with grace and being super thankful.”
Sparks reserve forward Stephanie Talbot, who has played five seasons in the WNBA, most notably with Phoenix and Seattle, said she sees potential in her new team.
“It’s a different vibe here, I wouldn’t say we have a whole lot of what you would call superstars but the way we move the ball, the way we play together, I think can go a long way,” said Talbot, who signed with the Sparks as a free agent in February 2023 but missed last season after suffering a torn ACL injury three weeks later while playing Australia.
Sparks forward/center Azurá Stevens will miss Friday’s game with a left arm injury. Stevens has been rehabbing at the team’s training facility and is expected to be reevaluated in mid-June.
INDIANA (0-5) AT SPARKS (1-2)
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: ION