Mercury lug struggling offense home to face Sparks

The Phoenix Mercury return home after a road-heavy start to face the Los Angeles Sparks in a Commissioner's Cup game on Saturday.

But regardless of where the Mercury are playing, coach Nate Tibbetts wants to see more out of his team.

"This was a step backwards tonight," he said Thursday after an 85-70 loss at Dallas, "as far as just our approach and our togetherness and what it takes to win in this league.

"We all have to be locked in and be ready to play, especially on the road."

The Mercury won the first two on their four-game, 11-day trip, but lost the last two to fall to 2-8 since May 19.

Phoenix (4-10, 2-3 Commissioner's Cup), which already has played a league-high-tying nine road games, opens a three-game homestand against the Sparks.

The Mercury rank 13th in the 15-team league in points per game (80.8) and field-goal accuracy (41.5%) and have yet to find a way to counter the loss of free agent Satou Sabally, who averaged a team-high 16.3 points when the Mercury made the WNBA Finals a year ago.

"We need to string more consistently positive possessions," said reserve guard Lexi Held, who led the Mercury with 17 points at Dallas.

When the Sparks and Mercury met earlier this season, Los Angeles forward Dearica Hamby logged season highs with 27 points and 15 rebounds in the Sparks' 97-88 victory on May 21 in Phoenix.

That started the Sparks' first winning streak this season. They pushed their current streak to two wins on Wednesday night as 10-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike tormented her former team with a season-high 24 points and nine rebounds in an 88-83 victory at Seattle.

Kelsey Plum added 19 points and 11 assists. Her two free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining clinched the victory after the Storm's Natisha Hiedeman missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer.

"Nneka was the MVP of our team tonight," Plum said. "Her aggressiveness really set the tone for us."

Ogwumike scored seven points in the fourth quarter and she assisted on Erica Wheeler's 3-pointer with 2:22 remaining for an 84-77 lead.

"She's just so poised," Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. "She doesn't rush, and in those situations when we know we have to score or need to get a great shot up, she doesn't panic. She always seems to make the right decision."

Ogwumike passed Rebekkah Brunson for fourth in the WNBA in career rebounding Wednesday. She has 3,363 career boards.

The Sparks shot 38.7% against Seattle, but earned a 38-35 rebounding edge and turned 13 offensive rebounds into 14 second-chance points.

"This league is brutal," Roberts said. "Sometimes you have to win ugly and gain momentum from that."

--Field Level Media