Sparks hand Aces first home loss, pull off biggest WNBA upset by point spread since 2020

The Sparks were 17-point underdogs

By Jack Maloney Aug 19, 2023 at 6:19 pm ET• 2 min read

The Los Angeles Sparks are officially the hottest team in the WNBA. They continued their late-season surge on Saturday with a stunning 78-72 victory over the league-leading Las Vegas Aces. In the process, they made history on a number of fronts and improved their chances of getting back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. 

Los Angeles entered the matinee riding two active streaks: a three-game winning streak that was the longest active in the league, and a 13-game losing streak against Las Vegas that dated back to Aug. 1, 2019. Everyone assumed the latter would be the one that continued, and as a result, the first-place Aces were massive 17-point favorites. 

Instead, it was the former, as we were reminded once again that games aren't played on paper. 

The Sparks were simply the better team on the day. After falling in a slight hole in the first few minutes, they went on a massive 20-4 run in the middle of the first quarter to build an early double-digit lead, and maintained control for the majority of the game thanks to some tremendous defense and timely shot-making.