The Los Angeles Sparks visit the Indiana Fever on Saturday in Indianapolis with two of the WNBA’s leading scorers relegated to the sidelines.
Kelsey Plum, second in the league at 23.9 points per game, sustained a left leg injury in Los Angeles’ 98-97 win over New York on Sunday. The Sparks (8-9) played their first contest in a stretch of at least four weeks without Plum on Thursday and surrendered a WNBA record-tying 53 points to Marina Mabrey in a 125-97 loss to Toronto.
Mabrey’s exploits in recent days moved her to fourth in the WNBA in points per game, between the Indiana backcourt duo of Kelsey Mitchell (21.4 points per game) and Caitlin Clark (21.2). However, the Fever will be without Clark for Saturday’s contest as a result of a back injury sustained in a 111-109 loss to Phoenix on Wednesday.
Clark left the game shortly after the Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas pushed on her neck while Clark was on the floor. Thomas received a one-game suspension for the incident.
Clark’s absence from the Indiana lineup may also be for only one game, as Fever coach Stephanie White told reporters on Friday that she does not expect the third-year combo guard to be sidelined for long.
“Her long-term health and wellness is the most important (thing),” White said of the decision.
Indiana (10-8) loses a key part of its offense for Saturday as a result. Beyond having the fifth-highest scoring output in the league, Clark’s 8.2 assists per game rank No. 2 in the league.
Sophie Cunningham, a perimeter scoring spark off the Fever bench, may see opportunities to snap out of a mini-slump. Cunningham totaled just seven points against her former team in this week’s two-game series with the Mercury.
Center Aliyah Boston, meanwhile, heads into a frontcourt battle with the Los Angeles tandem of Nneka Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby having outpaced her season scoring average (17.0) in three of the last five outings.
Boston has also grabbed eight or more rebounds in each of those five games.
With Plum out, Ogwumike and Hamby lead Los Angeles offensively. Each scored 21 points in Thursday’s loss to Toronto, but beyond 17 points from Rae Burrell, the Sparks saw little support elsewhere.
A member of the backcourt looking to step up is Ariel Atkins, a former two-time All-Star in her first season with Los Angeles. Atkins is coming off a scoreless performance in Toronto.
“She is a great player. We believe in her,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said of Atkins. “She has not found her rhythm yet with us but she still brings it defensively. She’s a great teammate, plays her tail off. We’ve just got to stick with it and stick with her.”
–Field Level Media
