Tempo launch 9-game Canadian homestand with visit from Sparks

The Toronto Tempo begin a lengthy stretch of games north of the border on Thursday when they host the Los Angeles Sparks for the third and final regular-season meeting between the teams.

Toronto (8-9) split a pair with Los Angeles (8-8) last month in Southern California. The Tempo took the second of two high-scoring games, 106-96 on May 17, after dropping a 99-95 decision on May 15.

Brittney Sykes, a member of the Sparks from 2020-22, went for 38 points in Toronto's win. Alas, the Tempo have been without Sykes, their leading scorer at 20.1 points per game, since she sustained a foot injury in a June 16 loss to Indiana.

The absence of Sykes and rookie Kiki Rice -- out since June 3 due to an ankle sprain -- has left a backcourt hole that Marina Mabrey has done her best to fill. Mabrey, who began her career with the Sparks, has scored at least 18 points in each of the last three contests. That includes a career-high 37 in a 101-97 win last Friday at Connecticut.

"She's one of the best pure shooters that I've seen, and I've coached some pretty amazing ones," Toronto coach Sandy Brondello told reporters. "It's elite. It's pretty special. We're lucky to have her."

Mabrey heads into Thursday's contest, the first of nine straight dates the Tempo will play in either Toronto or Montreal, averaging 19.4 points per game. Her 3.2 3-point attempts made per contest are second-most in the WNBA, one place ahead of Los Angeles veteran sharpshooter Kelsey Plum's 2.6 per game.

However, the Sparks will be without Plum on Thursday -- and for at least the ensuing four weeks -- due to a lower left leg injury, the team announced Wednesday morning.

Plum, who went off for a career-high 43 points in a June 13 win at Phoenix, ranks second in the league with 23.9 points per game. But playing with her left leg heavily wrapped on Sunday against New York, she struggled through 1-of-7 shooting from 3-point range in the Sparks' 98-97 buzzer-beating win.

Nneka Ogwumike, who scored the game-winner, finished with 24 points against the Liberty. Ogwumike averages 15.8 points and grabs a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game.

"She's one of one," said Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts. "It's hard to articulate all that she's done. She has a presence to her. There's gravity to when she speaks and you see it on the court."

Behind Ogwumike, Dearica Hamby averages 13.7 points per game and Rae Burrell is up to 11.6 points a contest after going for 19 off the bench versus New York. The Sparks will lean on their balance with Plum out, but Toronto counters with a similarly even distribution of points.

Isabelle Harrison (13.0 ppg) and Nyara Sabally (12.1 ppg) join Sykes, Mabrey and Rice in double figures for the Tempo.

--Field Level Media