Kelsey Plum returns to LA as Mercury face Sparks

A little more than a week removed from her trade to the Phoenix Mercury, Kelsey Plum will compete against her former teammates with a visit to the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday.

The Mercury (12-22) acquired Plum on Aug. 2 in exchange for second-year guard Monique Akoa Makani as well as draft picks in 2027 and 2028. A five-time All-Star, Plum averaged 23.9 points in 12 games for Los Angeles this season.

In her Mercury debut Aug. 3, Plum went 3 of 5 from 3-point range and scored 20 points to help lead a 106-101 road victory over the Chicago Sky.

Phoenix has slumped since, dropping three consecutive games ahead of Tuesday's finale to a five-game road swing.

Coming off a 25-point performance in a 75-72 loss on Friday at Connecticut, Plum shot 2 of 7 from the floor and finished with five points in just 14 minutes of a 95-75 loss Sunday at Washington.

Per the Arizona Republic, Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said after the most recent defeat that he opted to sit Plum in the second half "to be safe."

"We'll just see how the next couple of days look," Tibbetts said regarding Plum's availability for Tuesday.

Plum injured her left leg in June while with the Sparks, and the team endured a tailspin in her six-week absence before the trade was made.

Los Angeles (12-19) slowly has come to life after going 2-9 from June 25 to July 29. That run included a six-game losing streak before the Sparks earned a 106-101 road victory over the Portland Fire on Aug. 2.

Los Angeles lost 95-88 on the road against the Sky on Wednesday before pulling off an 89-82 upset of the WNBA-leading Minnesota Lynx on Thursday. The team returned home Sunday with an 84-78 setback against the Golden State Valkyries.

The 78 points Sunday marked Los Angeles's lowest scoring effort since an 84-62 home loss to the Seattle Storm on July 6.

The Sparks are aiming to get back on track with seven weeks remaining in the regular season and a six-game gap to close in order to catch the eighth-place Dallas Wings for the league's final playoff spot.

"Everybody's in the thick of things," Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike said. "When you're trying to put these games together, you really have to pay attention to those details."

Ogwumike has delivered a team-best 17.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.

Kahleah Copper leads the Mercury at 20.9 points per game but has not recorded more than 16 in any of the three games during Phoenix's losing skid. She is 4 of 16 (25.0%) from 3-point range over those three games.

--Field Level Media