Liberty Slam Sparks to Open 2nd Half

The New York Liberty crushed the Los Angeles Sparks in their return from the WNBA's lengthy All-Star/Olympic break.

Aug 6, 2023; Brooklyn, New York, USA; New York Liberty forwards Jonquel Jones (35) and Breanna Stewart (30) and guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) watch the game from the bench in the fourth quarter against the Las Vegas Aces at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

In the spirit of the Olympics, the New York Liberty put forth a gold medal effort on Thursday night in Southern California.

Back in action after the WNBA's month-long hiatus, the Liberty had no issue picking up where they left off, demolishing the Los Angeles Sparks in a 103-68 final on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena. American Olympians and gold medalists Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu led the way with 27 and 18 points respectively as the Liberty (22-4) led wire-to-wire en route extending the WNBA's longest active winning streak to five.

New York kept the drama to a minimum on Thursday, scoring the first 10 points of the game and building a 29-10 lead by the end of the first period. Once the Liberty earned the first nine points of the second, their lead never ducked below 20 points as they pummeled a Sparks team missing several regulars such as rookie sensation Cameron Brink and Olympic bronze medalist Steph Talbot, one of Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello's proteges on the Australian national group.

Despite the one-sided score, Stewart provided some late metropolitan fireworks by sinking three-pointers on three consecutive possessions, one that stretched the Liberty to 37 in the third quarter. The reigning WNBA MVP had gone was fruitless from deep during an abbreviated July slate but returned to the three-point scoresheet in style before taking in the rest of the game from the bench.

While Stewart's fellow American medalist Ionescu saw her streak of consecutive 20-point games end at five, she nonetheless set a new Liberty landmark with the 751st rebound of her career, passing Teresa Weatherspoon for the seventh-most in franchise history. Elsewhere in the box score, sixth woman Kayla Thornton had 16 points, most of it coming from a 4-of-6 mark on three-pointers.

Having lost 12 of its past 14, depleted Los Angeles (6-19) now sits four games behind Chicago for the eighth and final WNBA playoff spot. Another Olympian, American 3x3 bronze medalist Dearica Hamby, had a14-point, 13-rebound double-double in defeat. The Liberty and Sparks have one more meeting scheduled for this season, as New York returns to Los Angeles on Aug. 28.

In the meantime, the Liberty remain stationed out west for a high-profile showdown on Saturday, which has them facing the Las Vegas Aces in a WNBA Finals rematch (4 p.m. ET, CBS).

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