Kelsey Plum scored 12 of her 21 points in the final five minutes as the Los Angeles Sparks rallied for an 85-75 win over the Caitlin Clark-less Indiana Fever on Thursday in Indianapolis.
The Sparks (5-11) also got a game-high 23 points from Azura Stevens, one off her season high, as they snapped a four-game losing streak. The Fever was led by Kelsey Mitchell with 20 points.
Indiana (7-8) fell to 2-4 in games without Clark this season. The reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year missed the contest with what the team called a left groin injury.
The Fever play at Dallas on Friday night, and there was no immediate word on Clark’s status.
Indiana led by as many as 10 in the second half and entered the fourth quarter up 58-50. The Fever were up by seven after two free throws by Aliyah Boston with 5:58 left, but they were outscored 26-9 the rest of the way.
The biggest sequence came with under a minute left and the Sparks up 77-75. Los Angeles’ Dearica Hamby was fouled on a put-back basket. She missed the subsequent free throw, but Stevens fought to secure the rebound, scored and was also fouled. Stevens made her foul shot for a five-point trip for the Sparks, making it an 82-75 game with 49 seconds left.
After a quiet first half, Plum took over in the fourth quarter. She scored seven straight points for Los Angeles over a span of 1:11 to give the Sparks a 69-66 lead. Plum entered the game fourth in the WNBA in scoring.
The Fever certainly missed Clark and the pace she brings to the game. Los Angeles scored the first nine points of the contest capped by a three-point play by Rickea Jackson.
Indiana charged back with seven straight, including a 3-pointer by recently re-signed Aari McDonald. The Fever took a 19-18 lead on a put-back hoop by Natasha Howard with 44.8 seconds left in the first.
Los Angeles struggled in the second quarter, not scoring a point for the first six-plus minutes. Indiana’s lead later grew to 31-22 after a pair of Mitchell free throws. However, the Sparks closed the half on a 8-3 run to get without 34-30 entering the break.
–Field Level Media
