The Indiana Fever (1-6) welcome the Los Angeles Sparks (1-4) to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday night for their second matchup in the last week. Tuesday’s game tips at 7 p.m. ET and will broadcast on Bally Sports Indiana and NBA TV. Indiana grabbed its first win of the season four days ago beating the Sparks, 78-73, in Los Angeles. The teams’ final matchup for the regular season will also be in Indianapolis on September 4.
Indiana returns to home-court play this week after going 1-2 on its most recent west coast trip. In the win against the Sparks, Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell guided Indiana’s first win with 18 points, two rebounds and two assists. Indiana centers Aliyah Boston and Temi Fagbenle also helped elevate the Fever with 17 points and six rebounds each. Rookie guard Caitlin Clark recorded the first double-double of her professional career with 11 points and 10 rebounds while adding eight assists and four steals.
On Friday, Indiana limited the Sparks to only 5-of-24 from 3-point range and outscored Los Angeles in paint points (38-36) and fast break points (14-4).
Tuesday will be another defensive battle between these two teams as Indiana and Los Angeles come into the second matchup averaging 77.4 and 77.8 points per game this season.
On the Sparks side, forward Dearica Hamby posted a double-double of her own with a team-high 18 points and 12 rebounds, yet only scored two points in the second half. Hamby enters Tuesday night as the 10th leading scorer in the WNBA averaging 20.6 points per game this season. Los Angeles rookie forwards Rickea Jackson and Cameron Brink trailed behind Hamby with 16 and 15 points each. The No. 2 overall pick in the WNBA Draft, Brink recorded nine rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals for the Sparks as well. Brink and Jackson both enter the matchup as the third and fourth leading scorers among rookies this season averaging 10.8 and 9.8 points per game this year.
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