Sparks vs. Tempo: Kelsey Plum's 27 and 9 Deliver Los Angeles Its First Win of the Season, 99-95

The scoreboard read 21-2 with 5:39 left in the first quarter, and the expansion Toronto Tempo were learning what a road game feels like. This was their first one. It was going about as badly as a first date where the other person brings their whole family.

Los Angeles ended up needing every bit of that head start. The final was 99-95, the Sparks' first win of the season, and it took 27 points and a season-high nine assists from Kelsey Plum plus 20 from Nneka Ogwumike to survive a wild Toronto rally on Friday night. Toronto never led for a single second, and it still had the home team sweating in the final minute.

Two Big Holes and a Late Scare

The Sparks scored the first 10 points, gave up one basket, then ripped off 11 more. Credit the Tempo for refusing to go away, because a 10-0 run that stretched across the quarter break took them from 28-10 down to 28-20. Brittney Sykes dropped in a finger roll late in the second that made it 42-37, and Los Angeles took a 46-38 lead to the locker room.

Then the Sparks did it again. They opened the third with 12 straight, and it was 58-38 by the midway point. Twenty points up in the second half, in your own building, with your best players all cooking: most teams would be checking the dinner reservations. But Toronto kept coming, closing to 74-63 by the end of the third and then putting up 32 in the fourth.

Erica Wheeler's three made it 87-78 with 4:45 to play, and the Tempo responded by shredding the Sparks for the next two minutes. Kia Nurse hit a running layup, Plum got one back, and then Maria Conde hit a 27-footer, Laura Juskaite knocked down a seven-foot fadeaway, and Sykes's driving layup made it 89-87 with 2:26 left. A game that had been over twice was suddenly very much not over.

Ogwumike Takes the Air Out

The Sparks' answer came from the franchise legend. Ogwumike scored inside and drew the foul with 2:06 left, and the three-point play pushed it to 92-87. Sykes made two at the line, but Plum added a free throw and then a 12-foot floater with 1:02 left for a 95-89 lead.

Toronto had one more shot at it. A technical free throw from Sykes and two from Nyara Sabally at the 55.3 mark trimmed it to 95-92, the kind of three-point trip that makes a whole arena hold its breath. But Plum made both of her free throws with 13.8 seconds left, Cameron Brink made both of hers with 8.9 left, and Sykes's three free throws in the final seconds only set the final margin.

The Six-Player Show

Plum led everybody, going 10-of-16 from the field and 4-of-8 from three, and the Sparks say 15 of her points came in the fourth quarter. That is three games into the season and three games of at least 25 points, per the team, and her 26.3 per game leads the league. The nine assists might be the more interesting number on a team that was looking for its first win.

Ogwumike scored 20 on 8-of-11 shooting, the first time she has hit 20 since coming back to Los Angeles. Dearica Hamby was 8-of-10 for 19 with seven rebounds and four assists. Rae Burrell had 13 on 5-of-6. Wheeler scored 10 with seven assists, and Brink had 10 off the bench. That is six players in double figures, which matched a franchise record and, per the team, happened for the 17th time in franchise history. The shooting line was just silly: 37-of-58, or 64%. "You've got to pick your poison," Hamby said.

Sykes was outstanding in the loss, with 27 points, seven assists, four steals and a perfect 11-of-11 at the line. Juskaite came off the bench for 16 and four steals, and her plus-19 was the best mark in the game. Sabally had 14 points and nine rebounds, five of them on the offensive end. Kiki Rice added 11 off the bench, with three threes in four tries.

Marina Mabrey had a night to forget, shooting 3-of-10 and finishing minus-21.

The Numbers That Mattered

• 37-of-58: Los Angeles from the floor, a 64% clip that covered a lot of sins, including 16 turnovers.
• 54-30: Sparks in the paint.
• 42-10: Toronto's bench scoring edge, with Brink the only Sparks reserve to score.
• 13: Tempo steals, which helped Toronto to 19 points off Los Angeles turnovers.
• 32: Toronto's fourth-quarter points, after trailing by 20 in the third.

A Quick Rematch

The Sparks are 1-2, with all three games at home, and this ended a two-game skid to start the season. The Tempo are 1-2 and 0-1 on the road. Nobody gets much time to think about any of it, because they play again Sunday in the same building.

Lynne Roberts, the Sparks' head coach, knows what that means. "You get to play them in 48 hours, so tomorrow will be a mental day," she said. Wheeler liked what she saw from the ball movement, saying, "It felt good as a collective." She also credited her coach for her composure. "I find that poise because Coach [Roberts] gave it to me," Wheeler said.

Stuck Together

That line happens to echo 48 Hrs., the old Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte movie about two people who get stuck with each other and spend the whole time bickering. The Sparks and Tempo now have the same assignment. Los Angeles has the win, Toronto has the confidence of a team that nearly came back from 21-2 and from 20 down, and the coach on the winning side was not exactly celebrating. "So, I'm grateful with the win, but I know Sunday is going to be just as hard, if not harder," Roberts said. Smart. She saw that fourth quarter too.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Sparks. Postgame quotes from the Los Angeles Sparks.