LOS ANGELES -- The Sparks (1-2) are ending their home stand with a rematch with Canada's team, the Toronto Tempo (1-2), on Sunday afternoon. They hope that they can even out with a 2-2 slate before going on the road.
L.A. hopes to keep their ball movement going after a bad start in that department. They had 26 assists against Toronto on Friday, which is more than the first two games combined.
"Yeah, I think that's the way we want to play. The first couple games were not that," Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said after Friday's game. "It's just like I told you guys before the game, it's a process. But we had six players in double figures, 26 assists on 37 makes, we just talked about that in the locker room. That's how we want to play."
"I think like Coach said, like the first game that we played, we wasn't moving the ball as much," guard Erica Wheeler said. "So I took that on my back and I made sure that happened."
Wheeler started in place of Ariel Atkins, who is still out due to concussion protocol. It should be the same starters as Friday with Wheeler at the one while Kelsey Plum moves off the ball. Plum is tied with former teammate A'ja Wilson as they both lead the league in scoring at 26.3 points per game.
"You can't lose three in a row. I don't care who you're playing," Plum said. "I know everyone's good. I know it's tough. You start the season with (the) defending champs and then a team like (Indiana) that's had their core for a long time, right? That's definitely a top four team. That's not easy. I think that at the end of the day, we got to just take care of business when we need to take care of business and, overall, I think we have a lot of room to grow. So we're just going to keep chipping away."
The Sparks started Friday's game with a 10-0 lead. They were up by as many as 20 before the Tempo came back and made it a game. The Sparks would hold on for a four-point game.
"This is a WNBA team and they're coached by one of the all-time greats (Sandy Brondello) in the league," Roberts said. "They're not going to just go away. We talked about that and those are competitors over there so you have to first give them some credit. I do think we gave up 57 points in the second half. That's way too many so I feel like we lost maybe a little bit of our focus, intensity, which again, the goal is to put together 40 minutes. We haven't done that yet this season, but the season's early. Again, credit to Toronto for fighting and not folding. I have a lot of respect for that."
Brittney Sykes had 27 points and Laura Juskaite had 16 to lead Toronto. The Sparks also have to watch out for Marina Mabrey, who only scored seven on Friday but she's as explosive as a scorer as anyone. UCLA's Kiki Rice showed great poise out there as well; she had 11 off the bench.
So the Sparks have to keep the ball moving. It resulted in six players scoring in double figures on Friday and it would be great for the team to keep everyone involved.
"Now, if we can shore up defensively, just be a little bit tighter," Roberts added. "I thought we made some mental errors in the fourth but it's good to still get the win and have to learn those hard lessons. But that's the way we want to play."
That kind of play could help them salvage a .500 record in this initial home stand.