Sparks forward Dearica Hamby takes a shot as Phoenix Mercury forward Noemie Brochant defends during the first half on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, at the Galen Center. (Photo by Libby Cline-Birmingham, Contributing Photographer)
Phoenix Mercury guard-forward Kahleah Copper (2) looks to take a shot past Los Angeles Sparks forward Cameron Brink (22) and Los Angeles Sparks guard Jihyun Park (6) in the second half of a WNBA basketball game at Galen Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. (Photo by Libby Cline-Birmingham, Contributing Photographer)
Phoenix Mercury guard-forward Kahleah Copper (2) takes a shot in the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Sparks at Galen Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. (Photo by Libby Cline-Birmingham, Contributing Photographer)
Phoenix Mercury forward Ashten Prechtel (10) and Phoenix Mercury forward Valeriane Ayayi (11) fight for the rebound with Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby (5) in the second half of a WNBA basketball game at Galen Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. (Photo by Libby Cline-Birmingham, Contributing Photographer)
Los Angeles Sparks forward Cameron Brink blocks Phoenix Mercury guard Lexi Held’s shot during the two teams’ game at the Galen Center on August 11, 2026. (Photo by Kai Dizon/SCNG)
Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper drops a two-point shot against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Galen Center on August 11, 2026. (Photo by Kai Dizon/SCNG)
Los Angeles Sparks guard Rae Burrell drives toward the basket against the Phoenix Mercury at the Galen Center on August 11, 2026. (Photo by Kai Dizon/SCNG)
Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts argues with a referee during his team’s game against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Galen Center on August 11, 2026. (Photo by Kai Dizon/SCNG)
LOS ANGELES — The Galen Center wall read “FIGHT ON,” and the Sparks complied – taking every hit on the chin and punch to the gut.
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When the bell, or buzzer, rather, finally rang, the Sparks had lost their second straight, falling to the Phoenix Mercury, 94-87, on Tuesday night and extending their skid to 5-14 over their last 19 games. They have lost nine of their past 11.
“I think it was the last four minutes when they went into zone and we just kind of stopped moving it,” coach Lynne Roberts said. “We got a little unsure. Zone offense is not rocket science. You just gotta move the ball. … We had 14 more shot attempts than them, but we shot poorly.”
Rae Burrell put up 24 points in the Sparks’ June 13 victory over the Mercury (13-22), and still contributed 20 in the July loss. But the fifth-year guard was coming off a Sunday performance against the Golden State Valkyries in which she was held scoreless through three quarters.
“Rae’s got to pick and choose where she’s aggressive,” Roberts said before Tuesday’s game. “She’s got to let the game come to her, not try to force stuff. I know she’s frustrated or was with how the game against Golden State went. But that’s the beauty of the league. You get another opportunity.”
Tuesday might as well have been Groundhog Day, however.
Burrell didn’t record her first field goal until 43 seconds before halftime, but a steal and score in the waning seconds before the buzzer made her 2-for-9 performance from the field (0 for 4 from behind the arc) slightly more palatable.
She finished the game with 19 points, tied with Dearica Hamby for the team lead, but her long-range shooting never got on track as she missed all eight of her attempts from 3-point range).
Burrell’s single turnover – even when the Sparks (12-20) had 16 others – might have been the most costly, as it immediately led to an Alyssa Thomas breakaway layup that gave the Mercury a five-point lead with less than two minutes left.
Phoenix had trailed 81-78 with 4:56 left before closing the game on a 16-6 run.
Thomas made a layup with 49.6 seconds left for an 88-84 lead and added two free throws on the Mercury’s next possession for a six-point lead. DeWanna Bonner sealed it by making four straight free throws down the stretch.
Noemie Brochant paced Phoenix (13-22) with a career-high 24 points, and Kahleah Copper added 18. Thomas scored nine of her 16 in the fourth quarter and finished with seven rebounds and nine assists.
Hamby shot a perfect 8 for 8 from the field and Nneka Ogwumike had 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, but the veterans combined for eight turnovers.
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“We realized that (the Mercury’s change to zone) a little bit too late, which led to some untimely turnovers,” Ogwumike said. “I wouldn’t say that we were necessarily shooting the best … to utilize scoring inside and out in the stretch. And you can’t do that against a team that makes adjustments like that.”
Any chance for a post-trade-deadline revenge night was thwarted when the Mercury ruled Kelsey Plum out ahead of Tuesday’s affair with a lower left leg injury. The Sparks followed suit by keeping Monique Akoa Makani off the court due to a bad right ankle – the guards were exchanged for each other in the Aug. 1 deal.
“She hasn’t played for six weeks and we’re playing every other day,” Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts said of Plum, who was limited to 14 minutes in the Mercury’s 95-75 loss to Washington on Sunday. “I think this is our seventh game in 14 days. It’s a tough stretch.”
Further, the contest between the two sub-.500 teams was relegated to USC’s cozier collegiate venue with Benson Boone taking over Crypto.com Arena for the night.
The Sparks previously fell to the Mercury, 86-82, on July 22 in Phoenix – both teams’ final game before the WNBA All-Star break.
Roberts added: “What crushed us last time was the threes and just not communicating on different actions. So we’ve got to clean that up, which we can.”
The Sparks went into Tuesday’s games with the seventh-worst 3-point shooting percentage in the 15-team league, but their 33.7% was still above the Mercury’s 32.1% – the WNBA’s fourth-worst clip.
At the Galen Center, however, the Mercury outshot the Sparks from behind the arc, going 9 for 25 to the hosts’ 7-for-32 effort.
“We didn’t make the same mistakes as we did last time,” Roberts said. “We did a good job, players did a good job adjusting defensively. For me, the problem was offensively. … We’re just a little too impatient, disorganized.”
UP NEXT
The Sparks begin a three-game East Coast trip against the New York Liberty on Thursday at 5 p.m. PT.
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