Sparks remain winless
Maya Moore scored 22 points and Seimone Augustus added 20 to lead the Minnesota Lynx to a 67-52 victory over the Sparks at Staples Center.
The Lynx (4-1) came into the game with four players averaging double figures but Moore and Augustus carried the scoring load on this night, taking over half of the shots for Minnesota, which shot 52.6% overall.
Trailing 28-23 at halftime, the Lynx outscored the Sparks 23-9 in the third quarter.
The Sparks (0-3), off to their worst start in four years, shot only 39.3%, including three of 18 three-point attempts. Jantel Lavender had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Sparks with Marianna Tolo adding 10 points. Leading scorer Alana Beard was out with a left-foot injury.
Dez Bryant was a no-show for the start of the Dallas Cowboys mandatory off-season minicamp.
The Kings will play the Ducks twice during the upcoming preseason, once at Honda Center on Sept. 25 and at Staples Center on Sept. 29, according to their schedule, released Tuesday.
The Kings have a total of six exhibition games, starting at Bakersfield against Arizona on Sept. 21. Tickets for that game and the two contests at Staples Center, as well as their traditional “Frozen Fury” stop at Las Vegas against Colorado on Oct. 3, are set to go on sale July 10.
— L isa Dillman
Two days after winning a grasscourt title in Stuttgart, Germany, Rafael Nadal was knocked out in the first round of the Queen’s Club tournament in London when he fell, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4, to Alexandr Dolgopolov.
By contrast, top-seeded Andy Murray opened his bid to recapture the title he lost last year to Grigor Dimitrov with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Taiwanese qualifier Lu Yen-Hsun, and French Open winner Stan Wawrinka began his bid for a first grass-court title by defeating Nick Kyrgios, 6-3, 6-4.
Sergio Aguero scored early in the second half to give Argentina a 1-0 win over defending champion Uruguay in Serena, Chile, in the Copa America, moving the favorites into strong position to advance past the group stage of the South American tournament.
Aguero scored the winner with a diving header in the 56th minute, leaving Argentina in first place of Group B along with Paraguay.
Playing in Antofagasta, Chile, Paraguay defeated Jamaica, 1-0. Paraguay scored its only goal after a stunning error by Jamaica goalkeeper Duwayne Kerr, who came 25 yards off his line to head away a long ball from the Paraguay defense. Instead, he headed it onto the knee of Paraguay’s Edgar Benitez and it rolled into the net in the 36th minute.