Kelsey Plum, Azurá Stevens power Sparks past Sky for first home win

LOS ANGELES — Sparks guard Kelsey Plum scored 17 of her game-high 28 points in the third quarter to lift her team to a 91-78 victory over the Chicago Sky on Sunday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena.

Plum’s personal 11-0 run made it 65-57 with 4:25 left in the third. She made five 3-pointers in the third. The Sparks led 76-64 going into the fourth quarter. The All-Star guard also had eight assists.

The Sky went on a 10-0 run between the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth, which cut the Sparks’ lead to 76-71 with 7:06 remaining. The Sparks, who finished with 13 made 3-pointers, responded with an 8-0 run, and extended their lead to 84-71 with 4:59 to go.

Sparks forward Azurá Stevens added 24 points and eight rebounds. Odyssey Sims scored 12 points. Dearica Hamby added 10 points, eight assists, six rebounds and six steals.

The Sparks improved to 2-3 overall and earned their first home win this season. They came into Sunday’s contest on a three-game losing streak. The home team had a renewed focus despite barely any time to practice, while playing three games in a five-day span.

“It’s a lot of film and a lot of accountability in that regard,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said before the game.

“We have to play with urgency for 40 minutes,” Roberts continued. “It’s mindset. It’s film. It’s talking about it. It’s game planning, but it’s 99% mental when you play this many games.”

Meanwhile, Sparks forward Rickea Jackson missed her third straight game after suffering a concussion against Minnesota on May 18. Forwards Rae Burrell and Cameron Brink were also sidelined with knee injuries. Jackson, Burrell and Brink were all in attendance and supported their team from the bench.

The Sky (0-3) were led by All-Star forward Angel Reese with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and six rebounds. Courtney Vandersloot and Rebecca Allen both had 11 points.

“They have the size advantage inside but that knife cut both ways, they’ve got to guard us,” Roberts explained. “But they’re good and they’re young and they play hard and I think they run really good stuff for them. We just need to be aggressive.”

The Sparks, who played 9 of their 10 active players in the first quarter, led 21-19 heading into the second quarter.

However, the Sky went on a 7-0 run and promptly took a 26-21 lead with 8:41 left in the second.

Hamby’s potential three-point play tied the game at 31 with 5:28 left in the second. She missed the free throw.

Sims’ 3-pointer put the Sparks up 34-33. Another Sims 3-pointer put the Sparks back up 37-35 with 3:01 left before halftime. Plum’s stepback 3-pointer made it 41-35 with 2:26 to go before halftime.

The Sparks led 43-39 at halftime. Sims had 11 points in the first half. The Sparks shot 42.4% from the field on 14 of 33 shooting early, including 5 of 13 from beyond the arc. They shot 66.7% from the free throw line, draining 10 of 15 attempts.

The Sparks bench had eight points in the first half. They did not score in the second half.

Sky forward Kia Nurse, who played for the Sparks last season, tied the game at 48 with 7:13 left in the third quarter. A corner 3-pointer by Stevens put the Sparks up 51-48. Sparks rookie guard Sarah Ashlee Barker’s 3-pointer made it 54-50. Barker finished with a career-high nine points.

The Sparks outscored the Sky by a 33-25 margin in the third and led 76-64 heading into the fourth quarter.

UP NEXT

The Sparks will host Atlanta (3-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.