​LOS ANGELES — The Sparks (9-11) silenced the lingering bad vibes from the past couple of weeks with a decisive win over the Fever on Wednesday, signaling a shift in momentum that they hope to carry into Friday’s date with the Sky (7-14). Chicago, meanwhile, is no stranger to its own set of issues. The Sky endured a brutal stretch in which they dropped 11 of 12, though they did bounce back to beat the Mercury in Phoenix in their most recent game. Rickea Jackson has joined Chicago via the Ariel Atkins trade, but she’s out for the season with a torn ACL. Skylar Diggins-Smith isn’t playing due to a knee injury, and her social-media reaction to a benching has raised eyebrows. Yet the Sky remain a talented, eclectic mix of veterans and newcomers who signed in the Windy City for this season.
Courtney Vandersloot has finally returned from an ACL injury, and Azurá Stevens returned home after a three-year stint with the Sparks. Natasha Cloud arrived after the Liberty chose not to re-sign her. Jacy Sheldon was dealt to Chicago, marking her fourth team in as many seasons, while DiJonai Carrington joined the roster but has yet to take the floor due to a foot injury she carried from last year. UCLA’s Gabriela Jaquez was the prized first-round pick in April’s draft, and Kamilla Cardoso remains a force in the frontcourt, recently setting a new record by making 13 straight field-goal attempts without a miss. Undrafted Sydney Taylor has stepped up as a scoring option for the Sky, adding depth and energy to the lineup.
As for the Sparks, they remain without Kelsey Plum and Cameron Brink, focusing on tightening their own play rather than chasing external narratives. After a three-game skid in which they were blown out in each contest, they steadied themselves with a commanding victory over the Fever on Wednesday. “I think people were tired of how we were losing—not just the losses, but the way we were losing,” Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike said after the win. “We knew there was more we could give. I credit (Kelsey Plum) for having a really good talk with us yesterday. We all held ourselves accountable to do more, to pour more into what we’ve got going on. I took it upon myself to try to play harder in every possession. I know everyone absorbed her feedback, both the encouragement and the points of improvement. I think it was received in a way that helps us not only change how we approached today but also sustain this feeling moving forward.”
Rae Burton, a key wing for the Sparks, added that Plum lit a fire in the locker room: “KP lit a fire in our asses. We were ready to play after that.” The Sparks, buoyed by that renewed intensity and accountability, expect to bring the same energy into Friday’s national spotlight game. The reality, though, is that any team can win on any given night, and the Seattle Storm demonstrated as much by visiting Los Angeles and handing the Sparks a lopsided defeat earlier in the season. Los Angeles knows they can’t afford to regress. Ogwumike stressed the simple formula: play hard, own every possession, and compete at every level for all 40 minutes. It’s a straightforward plan, but one that requires consistency if the Sparks aim to reach the postseason this year. The next test will reveal whether they have truly flipped the script or if they’ll revert to the pattern that left them in the rough patch they just escaped.