LOS ANGELES — It turns out, Becky Hammon is a pretty darn good head coach.
“I’m having a blast,” said Hammon, the former WNBA star and longtime San Antonio Spurs assistant who now is the Las Vegas’ Aces’ first-year head coach before her team cruised to an 89-72 victory over the Sparks at Crytpo.com Arena, where her team improved to 11-2.
Fred Williams closed his first postgame news conference as the Sparks’ interim head coach by giving kudos to Hammon, who was enshrined Saturday into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday as part of a class that also included former Sparks star DeLisha Milton-Jones.
“Congratulations to Becky Hammon, that is huge, that’s super,” said Williams, a well-traveled WNBA coach who took the reins Wednesday. “I want to give my hat off to her — and the Aces. They did a good job of shooting from the outside today and did what they need to do.
“My goal really, honestly? I did not want to lose by 28.”
After walloping L.A. 104-76 in the teams’ first meeting May 23, the Aces’ lead great to as large as 26 Saturday before the Sparks chipped away against the Aces’ reserves in the fourth quarter to avoid another blowout of such substantial proportions.
Still, the Aces’ early season steamroll continued before a season-high 8,200 fans Saturday at Crypto.com Arena. That included 70-some there to support Aces’ assistant coach Natalie Nakase, the former UCLA star and longtime Clippers assistant coach. All but six of those folks were paying customers, including Clippers wing Terance Mann, who had seats beside the Aces bench.
They watched Nakase’s team stymie the Sparks in just about every facet during Fred Williams’ debut as interim head coach following Derek Fisher’s departure earlier in the week.
Led by A’ja Wilson’s season-high 35 points, to go with a game-high 10 rebounds, Hammon’s team hit its shots – they shot 48.5% (33 for 68) – while limiting L.A. to 36.6% shooting.
Nneka Ogwumike led the Sparks with 16 points, but the famously efficient forward shot just 5 of 13. Former Mater Dei High School standout Katie Lou Samuelson added 13 points and L.A. Windward High School grad Jordin Canada had 10 and eight assists in the loss.
Chiney Ogwumike – who spent part of last week working as an ESPN NBA analyst covering the NBA Finals in Boston – said the new-look Sparks are trying to be patient as they work on coalescing, but it’s difficult.
“I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves,” she said. “If you look at everyone in this locker room, we have all experienced success at an individual and collective level and I think what you’re doing is a lot of pressure being put on ourselves, individually and collectively.
“That’s one thing Nneka said in our postgame, we have to give ourselves grace. Because we want it so bad, we know we can do it, we have to just let that go.”
Williams said he could sense it.
“They were trying a little too hard,” he said, noting that he was happy with the fact that the Sparks had only 13 turnovers while forcing 19 – and that they took three more shots than Las Vegas. “They have to just have more practices, get the timing down of things we’re doing on the floor differently.”
The Sparks will have a week to do that, without another game until their next game June 19 in Dallas.
Facing Las Vegas the first time out was a daunting assignment for Williams, who with his assistant coaches took it on dressed in business attire on the sideline, a departure from the sweatsuits most NBA and WNBA coaches have been wearing of late.
And the Sparks (5-8) clocked in and delivered a natty opening frame, playing a formidable foe even.
But Las Vegas finished with an 8-0 burst to take a 25-18 lead into the second quarter – an advantage the Aces wouldn’t relinquish.
Amanda Zahui B. was in the stands, relegated to spectator because the Sparks put her on the season suspended list because playing commitments abroad were going to delay her arrival. Kristi Toliver on the bench in street clothes for the second game after arriving late due to her other job as an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks, who reached the NBA’s Western Conference finals.
The Sparks who were available had no real answers for Wilson and company, who also got 20 points from Dearica Hamby, 17 points and eight assists from Kelsey Plum and 10 points and seven assists from former Spark Chelsea Gray.