Sparks 81, Lynx 71: Ana Dabovic, shot creator

We previewed Ana Dabovic to be an important piece in this Western Conference Semi-Finals showdown and in Game 2 she proved to be a life-saver for the Los Angeles Sparks after they defeated the Minnesota Lynx, 81-71 to tie the series at 1-1 and force a Game 3 on Tuesday.


Dabovic came off the bench to explode for 19 points on 3-for-4 three-pointers and added a team-high 7 assists, showing two important facets of her game: one as a floor-spacer who can hit the three and the other as a shot creator who was not shy of attacking the Lynx defense.

That proved to be a difference-maker for the Sparks squad, who might have needed another shot-creator outside of Candace Parker (25 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals) and Kristi Toliver.

Dabovic's no-fear approach also merited her 9 free throw attempts, and she hit 6 to add to her output. She accounted for a total of 35 of the Sparks' 81 points, and all of her dimes were given to bigs (Parker, Nneka Ogwumike, Jantel Lavender). More importantly, she was plus-29 on the floor, as her presence transcends the box scores.

The Sparks' offense was fluid all-night long, assisting 22 of 30 makes as they made difficult for the Lynx to respond. The Lynx's offense was not particularly bad nor did Maya Moore struggle. She had 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals and was 5-for-8 from three-point land. It was a matter of pulling stops in the end.

Here are some highlights of Dabovic's career game:
Here's the first play. A very dangerous pick and roll between Dabovic and Parker. It leads to the defense collapsing and Parker floats to the three-point area where she would knock down a wide-open triple.

Here, Dabovic gets a screen from Lavender, and the latter has been excellent at diving or moving after an on-ball screen all-season long.


The defense is once again too concerned with Dabovic and Lavender is uncontested for the baseline jumper.


And we mentioned Dabovic's ability on offense. This is all the space she needs to drain a pull-up triple.


Here is another Dabovic-CP3 pick and roll. Sylvia Fowles helps one pass away, leading to Lavender hitting (!!!) a trey from the left wing.




Now that the Sparks just became even more dangerous on offense, the Lynx must find better approaches in containing their opponents.

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