TORONTO -- The Sparks are back on the road.
But the team will be without Kelsey Plum for a minimum of four weeks. It is said to be a lower left leg injury. During last Sunday's win, Plum had tape on her leg and it was increasingly getting taped more as the game went on.
“I think it’s been an accumulation over time of heavy, heavy usage,” Plum told Sparks media member Justin Russo recently.
The all-star guard had missed a total of four games; the Sparks are 1-3 without her. She missed three games after injuring her ankle at an open practice. Then she missed an additional game due to said lower left leg. Plum had been averaging 23.9 points and 6.4 assists while shooting a career-best .527 from the field. The more she sets the table, the better the Sparks do as the team is 7-1 when she's dishing out seven assists or more.
Los Angeles will go on without Plum. It is up to Nneka Ogwumike (who dramatically made the game-winning shot against the Liberty on Sunday), Dearica Hamby, Rae Burrell, Ariel Atkins, Erica Wheeler, and company to pick up the slack as Plum heals up. And remember that the Sparks are still short of Cameron Brink, who had hurt her ankle against the Valkyries two weeks ago. There is still no official timeline for Brink but it's been hinted before that her return could be before Plum's.
The Sparks (8-8) will face the Tempo (8-9) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Tempo are also without some of their main players in Brittney Sykes (foot) and Kiki Rice (ankle). They do still have Marina Mabrey, though, who is averaging a career-high 19.4 points per game. Isabelle Harrison has also returned for them in the middle while Nyara Sabally, Laura Juskaite, Temi Fagbenle, Kia Nurse, and ex-Spark Julie Allemand provide support.
The two teams split their two games in Crypto.Com Arena. It's hard to remember their second game, though, which ended in a Sparks loss. Everyone who was involved in that game probably still have whistles blowing in their heads.
The Sparks and Tempo combined for 59 fouls and 72 free throws. The game itself had little flow because of the constant stoppages. Sykes ended up scoring 38 points but the Sparks aren't going to complain that she won't be available for Thursday's game.
Los Angeles definitely preferred the result of their first match-up. The Sparks went up by 20 before holding on by four points to get their first win of the season. They did shoot 64 percent in that game. That's not likely going to happen again but if they can keep the ball moving (26 assists in each of their two games against the Tempo), they should be okay. Keeping the turnovers down would be useful as well.
The good news for the Sparks? They're no longer last in defensive rating. And the Tempo are only slightly better than them in that department. So this will likely be a track meet. Michael Johnson vs Donovan Bailey. Something like that.
It's going to be a difficult task for the Sparks to keep the team afloat without the star this team is built around for. But difficult isn't impossible and the Sparks would do well to remember that from here on out.