The visiting Los Angeles Sparks and Phoenix Mercury enter Thursday’s game searching for answers following home losses to the expansion Toronto Tempo.

The Mercury (2-3) and the Sparks (1-3) have each dropped three of their last four games.

Los Angeles will play its first game on the road while Phoenix is trying to salvage a split in its four-game homestand.

Defense is a concern for both teams.

Toronto’s Brittney Sykes followed a career-high 38-point performance in a 106-96 win Sunday at Los Angeles with 31 in a 98-90 victory at Phoenix on Tuesday.

Marina Mabrey also burned the Mercury from 3-point range on Tuesday, making 6 of 14. Sykes was 4 of 8 from that distance.

Toronto made a season-high 15 out of 36 attempts from beyond the arc against Phoenix, led by Marina Mabrey (6 of 14) and Sykes (4 of 8).

“I think we’re nowhere near where we need to be defensively,” said Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, who finished with 17 points and eight assists. “It’s gonna be a long season if we don’t get it together on the defensive end.”

Conversely, Phoenix also is suffering from shooting woes.

Thomas and Natasha Mack (12 points, 10 rebounds) each went 6 of 7 from the field, but their teammates were 20 of 56 (35.7%). The Mercury were 4 of 22 from 3-point range.

Los Angeles shot well overall against Toronto on Sunday, making 33 of 64 shots (51.6%) but was only 7 of 23 from 3-point range.

Fouls were a problem. The Sparks committed 32, which sent Toronto to the free-throw line 42 times, making 39.

“Things happen in this league,” said veteran guard Kelsey Plum, who had 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. “You’re going to miss shots. You’re going to make mistakes. You’ve gotta keep playing and keep going back.

“That’s a muscle you have to grow, in terms of your resilience. That’s something that we’re going to have to have moving forward because in this league when you get punched, you have to take it and punch back.”

–Field Level Media