Mercury hope to take advantage of Sparks' shaky defense

The Phoenix Mercury went out and traded for the WNBA's all-time triple-double leader when reshaping their roster in the offseason.

Alyssa Thomas has a case as the most underappreciated player in the league. The Mercury certainly see her that way as they try to carry winning vibes into their road game at the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday.

Thomas, 33, spent her first 11 seasons with the Connecticut Sun and arrived in Phoenix at a moment when Diana Taurasi was entering retirement and Brittney Griner was about to leave in free agency. The multitalented forward has combined with Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper to help the Mercury (22-14) climb to fourth in the league standings.

Thomas posted her 17th career regular-season triple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 16 assists during an 81-72 win over Golden State on Friday. For perspective, the player who ranks second all-time is Sabrina Ionescu with four.

The assists matched Thomas' career best and set a Mercury record.

"Probably can't talk about it enough because the national media doesn't," Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said. "Just her greatness. I think we're all seeing it every night. Just impressed with her focus, her desire, her want to each and every night. I'm happy she finally got the franchise (record) because I think she's got 15 two or three times."

Phoenix has won six of the past nine to reach the top half of the league. Two of the losses in that span came to white-hot Las Vegas, on a 10-game winning streak and counting.

The Sparks (17-18) have won two of their past three games, both coming against the Dallas Wings. Kelsey Plum hit a floater at the buzzer Wednesday for host Los Angeles to pull out an 81-80 win.

The Sparks haven't played since. That's given them plenty of time to ruminate on allowing 44 points to Paige Bueckers and absorb Plum's blunt assessment during an in-arena postgame interview.

"We gotta play some (expletive) defense," Plum said, drawing cheers from Sparks fans as she walked off.

Los Angeles ranks second in the league in scoring (86.4 points per game) and shooting percentage (46.1) but dead last in points allowed (88.5 per game).

Phoenix and Los Angeles haven't met since a pair of games early in the season, May 21 and June 1. The Mercury won both, 89-86 at home and 85-80 on the road. Sabally went for 25 and 24 points in those outings.

--Field Level Media