LOS ANGELES — The Sparks put an extra emphasis on improving their defense during several practices ahead of Tuesday night’s home game against the Phoenix Mercury.
“You have to compete,” first-year Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. “It comes down to who wants to win more at this point in the season. It’s execution but it’s also a toughness of we’re not going to quit, we’re not going to go away, and I think that’s what it takes to win when you’re in a (playoff) hunt.”
With nine games remaining in the regular season, the Sparks (17-18) remain on the outside looking in for the WNBA’s eighth and final playoff spot, though they have two games in hand on the two teams directly ahead of them: Golden State (19-18) and Indiana (19-18).
“I think at this point teams are who they are,” Roberts said. “As you enter down the stretch of the season, you have to focus on what you’re good at and make sure you’re confident in what you can do and then just continue to look at the little things to improve along the way, so that’s what we’re doing.”
The Sparks, who are coming off a thrilling 81-80 victory over the Dallas Wings last Wednesday, are trying to end a franchise-worst four-season playoff drought.
“I feel like when we sit down and decide we want to guard, we want to be on a string, we see what happens,” said Sparks forward Rickea Jackson, who had 25 points and shot 6 for 7 from 3-point range against Dallas. “We win by double digits at times so I feel like we know what we can do. It’s just an effort thing and a thing that we have to want to do collectively.”
The ninth-place Sparks still control their own destiny, but seven of their last nine games are against second-place Atlanta (twice), third-place Las Vegas, fourth-place Phoenix (twice), sixth-place Seattle and Indiana, all of whom would make the playoffs if the season started today.
The Sparks are 0-2 against Phoenix this season – an 89-86 road loss on May 21 and an 85-80 home loss on June 1. The Mercury, who are coming off an 81-72 home win against Golden State on Friday, are led by two hard-nosed All-Star forwards in Alyssa Thomas (averaging 16 points, 8.8 rebounds, 9.2 assists per game) and Satou Sabally (16.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg).
“We need to be more aggressive at the point of attack and pressuring the ball,” Sparks forward Dearica Hamby said. “Those sort of things is what we talk about, when we say physicality.”
The Mercury (22-14) are comfortably among the top five teams in the standings.
“The word is principles because it becomes a little bit more chess than checkers and so you have to be really honed in on your principles,” Roberts explained. “We’re not exactly sure what teams will do the third and fourth time you play them. Offensively, they might read what we did last time. We have to hang our hat on our principles and that’s where we’ve struggled a little bit. We’ve got to be better with that. You’re not going to reinvent yourself with nine games left, so we’ve got to be better at the things we do and then really build on the things we know we do well.”
MERCURY (22-14) AT SPARKS (17-18)
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: Spectrum SportsNet
Los Ángeles Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts said she wants to see her team compete during the final 9 games of the regular season, in particular on defense.
The Sparks are 17-18 overall and one game back from the league’s eighth and final playoff spot. pic.twitter.com/0MJQr7gRWH
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) August 25, 2025
Rickea Jackson on the Sparks’ offensive and defensive mentalities ahead of Tuesday’s home game against the Phoenix Mercury. pic.twitter.com/Q56dEw0rHe
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) August 25, 2025
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