After dropping consecutive games for the first time in their debut season, the Portland Fire will visit the Los Angeles Sparks in an attempt to avoid a first-ever three-game losing streak.
The Sparks currently are on a three-game skid, with the first two defeats coming without league leading scorer Kelsey Plum, who was out with a right ankle injury. She returned Friday and Los Angeles still dropped a 104-96 decision at home to the Dallas Wings.
The Sparks (4-6) are the worst defensive team in the WNBA with an average of 93.0 points allowed per game.
“We’re all just kind of trying to figure it out, adding new pieces,” the Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I definitely felt more natural the first half, back to just having more of an open floor, but we’ll continue to build off that trust.”
Plum scored 27 points, right at her 26.9 mark on the season, and added six assists in her return. Ariel Atkins scored 16 points, Dearica Hamby had 15 and Ogwumike added 13 points with 10 rebounds.
“The ball was moving, we had balanced scoring (and) that’s how we want to play,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said of the offense.
The Fire (6-6) reeled off three consecutive victories in late May but are 1-3 since. They are coming off a 78-72 loss Friday at home against the Phoenix Mercury, when they shot 42.1 percent from the floor and committed 22 turnovers that were turned into 23 points.
It was the third-lowest scoring game of the season for Portland, with all three coming in the past five games.
“I’m never gonna talk about wins or losses. That’s just not my thing,” Fire head coach Alex Sarama told The Oregonian. “It’s a process. It’s creating that culture.”
Sarama was named WNBA Coach of the Month for May when his team delivered a 6-4 record.
Sarah Ashlee Barker was the only Fire starter in double figures against the Mercury, scoring a team-leading 15 points in her first start of the season. Karlie Samuelson had a season-high 13 points off the bench, while making 4 of 5 attempts from 3-point range.
Carla Leite leads Portland with 14.4 points per game, while Bridget Carleton adds 13.9 points, but was held to a season-low six against the Mercury on 2-of-9 shooting.
Barker, a first-round draft pick by the Sparks in 2025, was selected in the expansion draft by the Fire.
–Field Level Media
