Brittney Griner, Rickea Jackson ejected as Mercury top Sparks

The Phoenix Mercury held on to beat the host Los Angeles Sparks 85-81 on Tuesday night in a game marred by an altercation late in the first half that led to the ejections of Brittney Griner and Rickea Jackson.

Griner and Jackson were thrown out with 18.8 seconds remaining in the half with the Sparks leading 43-36 during a free-throw attempt by the Mercury's Celeste Taylor.

Griner raised her elbow close to Jackson's face and Jackson took a swipe at Griner.

Griner finished with 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and Jackson was 2-of-11 from the floor and scored eight points.

Los Angeles rallied in the fourth quarter despite trailing by as many as 15 points. After the Sparks cut their deficit to 79-74, Herbert Harrigan made a 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired to push the Mercury's lead to 82-74 with 1:38 remaining.

Kia Nurse made a 3-pointer with 14.3 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 84-79.

Sophie Cunningham made one of two free throws with nine seconds left before the Sparks' Stephanie Talbot closed the scoring with a jump shot in the lane as time expired.

The Mercury (19-20) conclude their regular-season schedule Thursday at home against the Seattle Storm. Phoenix will enter the playoffs as the No. 7 seed.

Los Angeles (7-32) lost its eighth straight game in its final home game of the season. The Sparks wrap up their regular season on the road against the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday.

Cunningham had 14 points and Diana Taurasi and Natasha Cloud each had 13 points for the Mercury. Cloud also had 12 assists.

Dearica Hamby had 21 points and nine rebounds to lead the Sparks. Li Yueru contributed 19 points and 12 rebounds off the bench in the loss.

The Sparks, who led by as many as 10 points in the first half, went into halftime with a 44-36 lead.

Phoenix opened the second half on a 12-2 run, which was capped by a layup by Cunningham as the Mercury took a 48-46 lead with 6:59 left in the third quarter.

Phoenix outscored Los Angeles 28-10 in the third quarter behind Taurasi's 10 points. The Sparks were 4-of-18 from the floor and committed nine turnovers in the quarter.

Mercury guard Kahleah Copper missed her third straight game with a back injury.

--Field Level Media