Five in Double Figures | The Sparks Showed Up and Showed Out 106-92

This is the Los Angeles Sparks I have been waiting to see all season.

Missing Kelsey Plum. Missing Cameron Brink. Down their best offensive player and their best defensive player for weeks and they just put up 106 points at Crypto.com Arena, the most points scored at home in franchise history, to beat the Indiana Fever 106-92. Five players in double figures. Three scoring over 20. 27 fast break points. 50.6 percent from the field. And a bench that changed the entire game.

Coach Lynne Roberts said it before the game and she was right: "We can be a dangerous team. But we've got to play connected for 40 minutes." Tonight they did exactly that.

Nneka Ogwumike led the way

24 points on 47.5 percent shooting, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. This was Ogwumike's 154th career 20-point game fifth most in WNBA history. She was the engine of everything the Sparks did offensively, especially in the second quarter when she scored six straight points in under a minute to flip the lead back to LA. She also shot 50 percent from three and was perfect from the free throw line. When Nneka is playing with this kind of confidence this offense looks like one of the best in the league.

After the game she put it simply: "We wanted to play hard. We wanted to own each possession and to compete at every level for the full 40 minutes of play. It's really that simple. When you put your heart into playing that hard, the schemes, the plays, the execution it comes to fruition. Tonight, it felt good. It felt good emptying the tank."

Rae Burrell had her best game of the season

22 points on 60 percent shooting her third 20-plus point game of the season, the most of her career. She was aggressive from start to finish, hitting a crucial three in the third quarter with five seconds left to push the lead to 82-71, and she brought the kind of energy off the bench that completely changed the dynamic of this game.

"I was just trying to be aggressive. Win or lose, we wanted to fight and compete. They were giving me great looks and I was trying to show it both defensively and offensively just trying to be aggressive and just be me. I have so much belief from my staff and my teammates, and that just really helps me to keep going and keep being who I am."

That's a player in a groove and fully confident in her role. Burrell is making a real case for herself this season and tonight was her most complete performance yet.

Dearica Hamby had a monster night

21 points on 53.5 percent shooting, a team-high 9 rebounds, a game-high 4 steals, and a season-high plus-18 rating. And with less than 30 seconds left, Hamby converted a layup off an assist from Kiana Williams to officially set the new franchise home scoring record. She put the punctuation mark on this historic performance in the most fitting way possible.

Ariel Atkins and Erica Wheeler rounded it out

Atkins added 12 points and surpassed 3,500 career points with a first quarter three pointer another milestone for one of the most accomplished players on this roster. Wheeler had 12 points, 6 assists, and was the connective tissue of this offense all night three assists in the first quarter alone, seven points in the fourth when the game was already in hand, just keep going until the final buzzer.

The bench was the story

Coach Roberts made a point to single out every bench contributor after the game and she was right to do it. "I could go down the line Kiana's push and pace, getting us organized and doing a really good job defensively. Pili came in and did a good job she hasn't played the game in seven months but it was great to have her physicality out there. JP was kind of the unsung hero she created so many second possessions for us. And Emma came in and hit that big three when we were down. I thought the bench was tremendous. They really gave us a boost."

27 fast break points. A bench that turned possessions into momentum. That's the sum of the parts being greater than the whole exactly what Roberts said this team needed to be.

What Roberts said before the game matters

Before tip-off Roberts was candid about where this team is. "We've had one game where we've had everybody healthy. We're missing our best offensive player and our best defensive player and we have been for weeks. That's impactful. It changes the plan. I don't know what's being said online, and I don't care, because I know what we're doing inside these walls and how hard we're grinding to figure things out. The goalposts haven't moved. We just aren't as close to them as we want to be, but we'll get there. Guaranteed."

Guaranteed. And tonight was proof that the belief inside that locker room is real. You don't score 106 on the best team in the East without everybody buying in completely.

My take

The Sparks are 9-11 and they just set a franchise home scoring record without their two best players. Five in double figures. Three over 20. A bench that was tremendous. A defense that held Indiana to 23.5 percent from three in the first half and zero fast break points in the third quarter.

This is what this team looks like when it plays connected for 40 minutes. When Plum and Brink get healthy and Roberts says that's coming this roster is going to be something special to watch. The potential was always there. Tonight it showed up.

Los Angeles hosts the Chicago Sky on Friday July 10 at 7pm PT at Crypto.com Arena. Her Game Network will be there.