PHOENIX — A furious comeback bid by Kelsey Plum and the Sparks came up about a toe short.
Plum scored 25 points, including her 500th career 3-pointer in the game’s final minute, but her toe was on the 3-point line on a basket with four seconds left and the Phoenix Mercury held off the Sparks, 89-86, on Wednesday night.
Satou Sabally scored 25 points, Alyssa Thomas added 19 and the Mercury survived after the Sparks whittled a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to one multiple times in the final minutes.
Two free throws from Plum had the Sparks within one at 78-77 with 2½ minutes to play in a game of long runs, but Thomas scored the next six Phoenix points.
Plum kept pace, scoring the last 11 points of the game for the visitors. That included the 500th 3-pointer of her career and then her basket with four seconds left. On that tightly contested, leaning shot from the left wing, her foot was on the line (confirmed by video review), so the Mercury led, 87-86.
A second later, Sabally made two free throws and Plum’s half-court heave wasn’t close.
Monique Akoa Makani added 11 points for the Mercury (2-0), who turned 17 Sparks turnovers – eight by Plum, who played all 40 minutes – into 23 points.
Azura Stevens had 23 points and a game-high 17 rebounds for the Sparks (1-2), and Dearica Hamby added 15 points.
Sabally got Phoenix off to a fast start with seven points in the first 4:06 but Plum responded with six first-quarter points, plus a pair of assists. An 8-0 run late in the quarter allowed the Mercury to take a 23-19 advantage into the second.
But the Sparks solved Phoenix’s defense in the second quarter with Stevens leading the way. After trailing by 11 at one point, the Sparks exploded for a 23-3 run on their way to a 42-33 advantage. They still led 46-42 at halftime.
However, the Mercury clamped down completely during a 24-7 third-quarter burst. They held the Sparks scoreless for the first 3:32 and Thomas worked her all-around magic, accounting for eight straight points at one stage with a pair of assists on 3-pointers and a layup. That allowed Phoenix to take a 66-53 cushion to the fourth period.
Hamby scored seven straight points during one stretch in the fourth, and the Sparks cut the margin to 78-75 on a layup by Odyssey Sims with three minutes left, setting up the late drama.
Sabally gave the Mercury a four-point lead with 17.8 seconds left for an 86-82 edge. Plum sank two of three free throws with 15.6 remaining to trim the margin to 86-84, then Sabally added a free throw to make it 87-84 with 14.8 left before Plum’s long two-pointer.
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The Sparks play host to Golden State on Friday at 7 p.m.
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