azurá stevens

After aiming to leap from the WNBA’s worst team to a season of triumph, the Sparks instead ended the season seeking perspective — none more so than Kelsey Plum.

In the season’s final weeks, while fighting for a playoff spot, Plum called Dearica Hamby, her closest teammate, to voice her frustration. Accustomed to winning seasons with the Las Vegas Aces, Plum sought solace after several losses, and Hamby grounded her.

“Hey, I won eight games last year,” Hamby responded. “So this looks different to me.”

Despite finishing under .500 for the fifth consecutive season and falling just short of making the playoffs, the Sparks easily more than doubled last year’s win total. Hampered by a slew of injuries that stunted momentum, they greatly improved with the league’s fourth-best record after the All-Star break.

“I really wanted to impact winning, and so it’s tough because sometimes I don’t do a great job of giving myself grace,” Plum said. “We did win 21 games, different from eight a season ago, [but] at the same time, as a competitor, I really want to be in the playoffs.”

Missing the postseason has left Plum carrying that burden, an internal battle she said she’ll have to process. The weight was heavier for Plum, after taking a leap of faith, betting on herself as a No. 1 option for the first time in her career and the motivating factor behind accepting a trade to L.A.

Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, who will become a free agent this offseason, drives against Dream guard Jordin Canada during a game Sept. 5.

(Paras Griffin / Getty Images)

Now, heading into the offseason, Plum’s message to her teammates is to “take that chip and that hunger,” as she will, and carry it into next season.

For Hamby, this season was a necessary dismantling and rebuilding of the organization, an essential step for lasting success.

“My optimism and perspective is I’d rather have a slow burn than a quick fix,” Hamby said. “We’re talking about long-term and wanting to build something for years to come, with the core that we have.”

For the Sparks to take the next step, head coach Lynne Roberts and general manager Reagan Pebley face a tall task: holding together a roster that finally showed promise of reaching lofty goals. Drawing on their coaching backgrounds, both have leaned on a collaborative approach to building the roster, but free agency will be a test this offseason.

Outside of second-year contributors Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson, and this year’s rookie class — all locked into multi-year deals — every veteran on the roster will hit the market. That includes three players who delivered career years: Plum, Hamby and Azurá Stevens.

Plum, with Hamby seated beside her, refrained from guaranteeing her return during exit interviews Friday night. Yet her impassioned message to fans after the season finale, role as the face of the franchise, and input in offseason plans make a return likely.

Hamby, who began recruiting Plum nearly a year ago in hopes of building a legacy together, also appears committed to staying. As she put it, the two “always talked about being together, staying together, whatever we do.”

Fever forward Kelsey Mitchell, middle, tries to drive against the Sparks’ Dearica Hamby (5) and Azurá Stevens (23), who both will be free agents this offseason.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

For starters, retaining them along with Stevens and Julie Allemand is a priority, but it could become a bit complicated come free agency.

Stevens, the healthiest she’s been in years, delivered career highs in points (12.8), rebounds (8.0), minutes (28.4) and games (all 44) as a primary contributor, particularly when injuries plagued the team early in the season — a showing that could attract suitors in free agency.

Allemand is headed to Turkey to play professionally this offseason but hopes to return next season — a return that might hinge on a more defined role. She said she can “do a lot more” and doesn’t want “to be satisfied with this, and be like, ‘OK, let’s just come back next season,’ and it’s the same.”

“It’s always tough to run it back,” Pebley said. “Success is really hard to sustain, and momentum is really hard to hold on to. … We’ll do everything we can to make sure the right pieces stay. Maybe it’s putting people in a different spot, but also addressing some needs that we have.”

The challenge isn’t just shuffling or adding talent; it’s doing so without overcorrecting. The goal is bringing in players who add value while preserving locker-room balance — those whom both Roberts and Pebley trust to fit seamlessly into the culture, enhancing it rather than disrupting it.

Changing the culture and building an identity was Roberts’ top priority heading into her first full WNBA season, and she believes the roster has fully bought in, a process that began with earning the players’ trust.

“They don’t care what you know until they know you care,” Roberts said. “I wanted to get them on board and get them bought in. And so then next year there can be more accountability and I can do a better job.”

Sparks coach Lynne Roberts talks with guard Julie Allemand during a break in play. Allemand will become a free agent this offseason.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Pebley said missing the playoffs has left everyone focused on accountability, at times, to a fault.

Plum is carrying the weight of coming to L.A. to win and falling short. Roberts is shouldering the responsibility of missing the mark of turning a perennial losing team into a winner, like she was hired to do. Pebley herself has been reflecting on the decisions she could have made differently.

“Like mature, experienced people that can gain perspective, do hold on to that self-accountability, but also start to move things into the right place,” Pebley said. “We want to get better, and we will. We’re very committed to doing that, and grateful that it’s not just on one of our shoulders.”

Less than 10 days ago, the Seattle Storm and the Sparks battled deep into a second overtime — the first of the 2025 WNBA season — wringing every drop of drama out of Climate Pledge Arena. On Sunday night, the same stakes were at play as the teams tried to strengthen their playoff chances.

The intensity didn’t let up till the final horn. With 5.6 seconds left, Dearica Hamby roared into the paint and scored on a driving layup to put the Sparks ahead for good. After the Storm missed their final chance to win, pandemonium spilled onto the floor — Sparks players leaping into one another’s arms, fans hollering over the hardwood, chanting “Hamby” in celebration of the Sparks’ 94-91 victory.

In addition to Hamby’s last-minute heroics, Kelsey Plum proved vital to helping the Sparks win for the ninth time in 11 games. She finished with 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Sparks coach Lynne Roberts has painted Plum as a shape-shifter — able to twist her game into whatever the game demands.

“That’s what your best players should do — get everybody else involved and make sure we’re flowing,” Roberts said before the game, “and then when they need you, you step up. She’s done a tremendous job.”

Trailing the Storm (16-16) by 17 in the first quarter, Plum, who still hadn’t scored yet, tore into a one-on-five fast break, freezing the defense with a hesitation at the arc and a glide into the basket for an and-1.

Seconds later, Plum created another opportunity off an extended right elbow, drilling a three-pointer in Erica Wheeler’s face.

Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, right, drives against Seattle guard Brittney Sykes in the fourth quarter Sunday.

(Luke Hales / Getty Images)

It was the spurt of momentum the Sparks (15-16) needed to overcome a sputtering start.

Playing the entire first half, Plum went from the table-setter to shot-maker in the second quarter — springing Rae Burrell for a corner three before splashing a triple to tie the score 29-29 early in the second quarter.

Azurá Stevens and Cameron Brink were strong in the key early, but the Sparks clanked jumpers, dribbled into traffic and watched offensive possessions die on the rim in addition to committing eight first-quarter turnovers. So Roberts rolled the dice on a smaller look — swapping her paint patrol of Stevens and Brink for guards Julie Vanloo and Burrell.

Plum and Julie Allemand kept the smaller unit in constant motion, whipping passes from wing to wing and slicing open lanes for Burrell and Rickea Jackson, while Vanloo, Allemand and Plum cashed in from beyond the arc. Roberts rode that group into the second quarter, and they eventually whittled the deficit.

When the final buzzer faded, players were still grinning through hugs, and the crowd’s enthusiasm continued — excitement for a Sparks team that had yanked itself out of the fire.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Kelsey Plum had 30 points and six assists, Dearica Hamby added 20 points and 11 rebounds and the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Connecticut Sun 101-86 on Thursday night.

Los Angeles (10-14) has won four in a row, beginning with a 92-88 victory over the Sun at home July 13 that snapped a 13-game losing streak against Connecticut.

The Sparks set a season high for points and have scored 90 points or more in four consecutive games, tying the franchise record set in 2013.

Azurá Stevens had 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Sparks. Julie Allemand scored 12 points.

Stevens made a three-pointer a little more than a minute into the second half that gave the Sparks the lead for good and ignited a 17-5 run that made it 64-54 with 4:45 left in the third quarter.

Connecticut’s Bria Hartley, who was called for a technical foul midway through the first quarter, was ejected after she picked up her second about three minutes into the third quarter. Hartley finished with 16 points in 18 minutes.

Sparks forward Azurá Stevens, driving to the basket against Sun center Olivia Nelson-Ododa, finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the win Thursday.

(Chris Marion / NBAE via Getty Images)

Tina Charles led Connecticut (3-20) with 24 points and 10 rebounds while Olivia Nelson-Ododa had 17 points. The Sun have lost four in a row and 14 of 15.

It was the kind of offense they’d been chasing all season.

Cuts darted through closing doors, warping the Connecticut’s defense into knots, and the Sparks’ monster frontcourt threw its weight around and pounded out a 57-point stampede.

Rickea Jackson, with her wiry strength and burst, knifed past defenders as Dearica Hamby mixed bruising post work with feather-soft finishes and Azurá Stevens — the most versatile of the bunch — filled every gap. And as Jackson and Hamby created real estate down low, the Sparks’ backcourt dished out 22 assists.

Kelsey Plum even caught a groove in the third. Rae Burrell clawed her way into the lane for jabs that jolted her Sparks back to life.

With touches flowing from sideline to baseline, the Sparks kept their half of the scoreboard flashing in a wire-to-wire 92-88 victory over a flailing Sun squad.

There wasn’t much time to breathe at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday afternoon, whether decked out in white and purple or black and orange.

Not when every possession felt like a pendulum swing — the Sparks (6-14) surging and the Sun (3-18) countering with Bria Hartley’s steady hand on the perimeter and Saniya Rivers’ muscle inside.

Clinging to a fragile five-point lead, Julie Allemand elevated what could’ve been the dagger with 48 seconds left — a shot that would’ve ballooned the lead to eight.

Instead, it went to a jump ball, Jackson got charged for a personal, and Rivers went to the free-throw line. Drowned in the noise of a frenzied Crypto.com Arena, the rookie scored on only one of her two shots, keeping it a two-possession game.

Hamby could only find iron on the next possession.

Coming out of a Connecticut timeout, Stevens rebounded a 26-foot heave from Hartley that clanged off the rim. Hartley fouled Stevens.

True to her steady hand, Stevens buried both free throws to secure the win.

INDIANAPOLIS — Azurá Stevens scored 21 points and had 12 rebounds, Kelsey Plum added 20 points and the Sparks won at Indianapolis for the second time in 10 days, defeating the Fever, minus Caitlin Clark, 89-87 on Saturday.

Since dominating the fourth quarter en route to an 85-75 win over Indiana on June 26, the Sparks had lost two straight. The Fever had won three, including the Commissioner’s Cup, without Clark. She missed her fifth consecutive game with a groin injury.

This game was close throughout. The Sparks’ biggest lead was three points in the first quarter, and the Fever went up by eight midway through the third.

Dearica Hamby scored 18 points for the Sparks (6-13) and Rickea Jackson added 15, including the go-ahead basket that made it 88-87 with 57.4 seconds left.

Indiana missed its last five shots, four in the final minute. Stevens rebounded a miss and was fouled, making a free throw with 3.3 seconds to go. The Fever used their reset timeout but Aliyah Boston missed a shot from the top of the key.

Boston led Indiana (9-9) with 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Natasha Howard had 21 points and nine rebounds. Kelsey Mitchell added 19 points. Howard surpassed 2,000 career rebounds and Mitchell, who reached 600 three-pointers with three, broke a tie with Fever assistant coach Briann January with her 251st game for the Fever, second behind Tamika Catchings.

Mitchell had 13 points and Plum 11 in an evenly played first half that featured nine ties and nine lead changes before Indiana went on top 45-42. Plum scored the last seven L.A. points in the third quarter for a 70-69 lead heading into the fourth.

INDIANAPOLIS — Azurá Stevens scored 23 points, Kelsey Plum had 21 points and six assists and the Sparks ended a four-game losing streak by beating the short-handed Indiana Fever 85-75 on Thursday night.

Indiana played without Caitlin Clark who was out because of a groin injury. Clark had recently returned from a quad injury that kept her sidelined for five games. She returned on June 14 and scored 32 points to help the Fever to a 102-88 victory against the Liberty.

Plum made a three-pointer with 4:13 left to give the Sparks a 67-66 lead, its first since the opening minute of the second quarter. She added two free throws on their next possession to cap a 21-8 run spanning the third-quarter break.

Los Angeles sealed it by grabbing two offensive rebounds with under a minute to play. Dearica Hamby was fouled while making a layup to give the Sparks a 79-75 lead. She missed the free throw but Stevens grabbed it and completed a three-point play to make it 81-75 with 49 seconds left.

Hamby and Rickea Jackson each scored 14 points for the Sparks (5-11).

Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana (7-8) with 20 points and Aliyah Boston had 12 points, 10 rebounds and five steals.

Indiana led 31-22 before the Sparks went on an 8-0 run, capped by Shey Peddy‘s three-pointer to get within one. Sophie Cunningham answered with a three-pointer and the Fever led 34-30 at the break after forcing 15 turnovers.

If one word sums up the Sparks’ season so far, it’s hardship. Injuries continue to mount, and Kelsey Plum, their primary scorer and star, has joined the growing list of sidelined players.

Plum’s absence was sorely felt as what began as a valiant effort by the Sparks — keeping pace with the visiting Storm through the first half — quickly unraveled into a 98-67 blowout loss Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena.

Already down two key starters — Plum and Odyssey Sims — the Sparks were forced to piece together a new starting lineup on short notice. Dearica Hamby, Rickea Jackson, Azurá Stevens, Sarah Ashlee Barker and newly acquired Shey Peddy marked the Sparks’ fifth different starting five this season.

“We obviously missed [Plum],” coach Lynne Roberts said. “We missed Odyssey. We missed Julie [Allemand]. Those are our three lead guards, and none of them are here.”

Plum was out with a leg injury, Sims for personal reasons and Allemand is with the Belgium national team for the European basketball championship. Plum’s absence was the most felt — she is averaging career highs in points (20.9), assists (5.6), rebounds (2.9) and steals (1.7) so far this season.

Peddy, signed to a hardship contract, joined the team just before Saturday’s loss to the Minnesota Lynx. Since then, she has had just one practice under her belt before stepping in to replace Plum at point guard.

Also signed under a hardship exception, Grace Berger flew in late Monday and joined the team just hours before the game. Berger went scoreless in16 minutes.

“I thought Shey and Grace did a good job,” Roberts said. “They did what they could, but it’s hard to execute stuff that they’ve had little time to digest. It’s not anyone’s fault. That’s just the reality.”

Running the offense through their anchor, Hamby, the Sparks (4-9) held their own through the first 20 minutes, refusing to waver. They trailed 47-37 by halftime.

Hamby finished with a season-low eight points and grabbed seven rebounds.

But the resilience was short-lived. As the game wore on, cracks in the offense widened. Careless passes led to a flurry of turnovers.

Seattle’s Gabby Williams set the tone early with six steals in the first half. She finished with eight, along with 11 points and seven assists. The Storm scored 31 points off 24 Sparks turnovers, with 24 of those points coming on fast breaks.

A 14–5 run — led by former Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike — gave Seattle (7-5) a 62–42 lead with 5:37 left in the third. Ogwumike scored 10 of her 26 points in the quarter.

“In the second half, we couldn’t get a stop,” Roberts said. “We’ve got to be able to defend. We can’t give up 98 points and expect to beat anybody.”

Stevens echoed her coach’s sentiment: “Obviously, we have key people out, but we have enough to still execute and get things done. And it starts defensively.”

Several Sparks starters — including Hamby, Jackson and Stevens — remained in the game late into the fourth, but the deficit had long grown insurmountable, with the team trailing by as many as 30 points. Jackson led the Sparks with 17 points, while Stevens finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The news of Plum’s absence came as a surprise just after practice on Monday, with the Sparks ruling her out because of a lower leg injury.

Dominique Malonga, the 2025 first-round draft pick subsequently chosen as part of the three-team trade for Plum, finished with seven points in 12 minutes for Seattle.

It’s still unclear when Plum sustained the injury, though it presumably happened during Saturday’s loss to the Lynx. She underwent imaging the next day, but the team says the results offered little clarity.

Even more uncertain is her return timeline. It’s unclear if she will play Saturday against Minnesota. Roberts said Plum is “tuned in to her body — she’ll know when she’s ready to go.”

Through the first 12 games of the season, only Atlanta Dream star Rhyne Howard is averaging more minutes per game than Plum’s 36.

“I still believe strongly in this group, and we’re not even close to full strength,” Roberts said. “We have Kelsey Plum, Odyssey Sims, Julie Allemand, Rae Burrell and Cameron Brink all out. And when we’re going into the season, we’re thinking, Plum, Sims, Allemand, Burrell and Brink are all going to be huge parts. So we cannot lose perspective.”

But a prolonged absence for Plum could spell serious trouble for a team already reeling.

LAS VEGAS — Rickea Jackson scored a career-high 30 points, Azura Stevens had 19 points and 10 rebounds in leading the Sparks to a 97-89 Commissioner’s Cup win over the Aces in Las Vegas on Wednesday night.

The Aces were without star center A’ja Wilson for the final 11 minutes of the game after she left with 1:17 left in the third quarter with an injury. She was accidentally hit in the face on Dearica Hamby’s drive to the basket.

Jackson went 11 of 17 from the field, including four of eight from three-point range, and four of five at the free-throw line to top her previous best of 25 points against Dallas last season.

Hamby scored 19 points for the Sparks (4-7) to go with eight rebounds and seven assists. Kelsey Plum had 13 points and nine assists against her former team.

Jackie Young tied her career high with 34 points and Chelsea Gray added 28 for Las Vegas (4-4), which has lost two straight games. Wilson was 2 of 12 from the field and 9 of 10 at the free-throw line to finish with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 28 minutes.

Young scored 14 straight Las Vegas points in the second quarter.

Hamby, Stevens and Jackson all scored in double figures in the first half to help the Sparks build a 50-41 lead.

DALLAS — Azurá Stevens had 21 points, including a career-high five three-pointers, Dearica Hamby added 20 points, and the Sparks beat the Dallas Wings 93-79 on Friday night to end a three-game losing streak.

Hamby and Stevens each reached 20-plus points for the fourth time this season. Odyssey Sims, who was coming off a 32-point performance in an 85-80 loss to Phoenix on Sunday, added 19 points and a trio of three-pointers for the Sparks.

The Sparks took a 45-40 lead at halftime after Sims converted a three-point play with 2.2 seconds left. Sims finished the half with nine points, Stevens added 13 and Hamby had 11.

Sparks forward Dearica Hamby, right, drives against Dallas Wings center Teaira McCowan during the first half Friday.

(LM Otero / Associated Press)

The Sparks started the third quarter on a 6-0 run and added a 9-0 run to begin the fourth for a 76-55 lead. The Wings had three turnovers and two missed shots in the opening three minutes of the fourth.

Stevens hit her fifth three-pointer with 4:45 left in the fourth on a wide-open shot from the corner off a nice drive and pass by Kelsey Plum.

Plum had 11 points, five rebounds and nine assists and Rickea Jackson scored 10 for the Sparks (3-6).

DiJonai Carrington scored 16 points and JJ Quinerly had a career-high 14 for Dallas (1-8). Luisa Geiselsoder had 11 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double. Kaila Charles had 10 points.

Dallas has yielded 90-plus points three times during its four-game losing streak.

Against the Chicago Sky, the Sparks found themselves in a must-win situation, not in the grand scheme of the standings, but for peace of mind. A win to help with confidence and morale.

After a week riddled with injuries and a three-game skid, Sunday’s matchup carried weight beyond the court — it mattered in the locker room. The pressure was starting to show, with visible signs of frustration from head coach Lynne Roberts down to the end of the bench.

The Sparks were a team searching for anything to swing the momentum back in their favor.

That shift came in the form of their superstar, Kelsey Plum, who took it upon herself to ignite the turnaround with a shooting clinic in the third quarter. Her flurry helped lift L.A. to a much-needed 91-78 win over the Sky at Crypto.com Arena.

Despite a back-and-forth start and a 43-39 halftime lead, the question remained: Which version of the Sparks would emerge after the break — the lethargic, disconnected squad or a group finally ready to deliver the full 40-minute effort Roberts has pleaded for?

Out of the locker room, the Sparks found a renewed energy. What followed was a shooting barrage from beyond the arc.

Plum sparked the run, and fittingly, she helped seal it too.

As she let her first left-handed three fly, the confidence in her stroke started to build. The second, from the top of the key, came with a signature gesture — Plum pointing to her veins, signaling the ice running through them. Then came the heat check: back-to-back threes that only added to her fire. A final three dropped cleanly through the net, punctuating the outburst.

Plum went five for six in the quarter, scoring 15 of her 28 total points, helping L.A. stretch the lead to 76-64 by the end of the third. The Sparks finished eight of 11 from the field in the quarter as a team.

Plum left it all on the floor for the Sparks. At one point, she took a shot to the nose and stayed down for a couple of minutes. But after brushing off the injury, Plum returned to the lineup and finished the game, embodying the grit the Sparks desperately needed.

But even against the league’s worst scoring offense (66.0 points per game) and defense (96.0), in what seemed like the perfect opportunity to exploit a team with even worse early-season woes, the game unfolded as two physical squads refusing to back down.

Coming in, there was no doubt that low-post anchors Dearica Hamby and Azurá Stevens would face a tough challenge, tasked with matching up against Chicago’s frontcourt duo of Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese — both boasting a clear advantage in size and length.

In the first half, however, Hamby and Stevens limited Cardoso and Reese to a combined 12 points and nine rebounds — a small but important victory against a Sky team ranked third in the WNBA in rebounding (39.0 per game).

Reese finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds — her third double-double of the season — while Cardoso added 12 points but was limited to just six boards. The Sparks’ frontcourt tandem managed to keep the damage manageable, preventing the kind of interior dominance Chicago has leaned on throughout the early season.

You only get one shot at a first impression — and for the Sparks, led by a first-year coach and a new superstar, Sunday marked the home crowd’s first glimpse of the new-look squad inside Crypto.com Arena.

With high aspirations, including a return to the playoffs, the Sparks faced an early litmus test in the Minnesota Lynx — a perennial contender and last year’s WNBA runner-up, led by one of the league’s elite talents in Napheesa Collier.

The Sparks showed they are clearly capable of competing for a playoff spot with their energetic and cohesive play, but their 89-75 loss to Minnesota also demonstrated they’re still behind the league’s elite teams.

In the first half, the Sparks (1-1) went toe-to-toe with the Lynx. They trailed 46-45 at halftime, an encouraging start for a team learning to gel under new leadership while facing a battle-tested opponent returning five starters from last year’s Finals run.

Dearica Hamby led the charge on the offensive glass, relentlessly converting at the free-throw line. She led the Sparks with 20 points and 10 rebounds for her second straight double-double.

Azurá Stevens was unshaken on catch-and-shoot looks, confidently letting it fly on her way to a team-high 21 points. Rickea Jackson added a physical presence, attacking defenders and establishing herself in the lane.

But by the start of the fourth quarter, the Sparks trailed by eight. They mounted a brief comeback, sparked by a Kelsey Plum steal that led to a transition layup, cutting the deficit to 80-75. A gritty defensive stand followed, with rookie Sarah Ashlee Barker and Collier hitting the deck for a loose ball, setting up another Sparks possession.

But missed opportunities on the offensive end allowed the Lynx (2-0) to regain momentum and push the lead to double digits — a margin that proved too much to overcome.

Already shorthanded, the Sparks suffered another blow when Jackson went down after a hard collision late in the third quarter. She remained on the floor for a few minutes before walking off with the help of trainers. Jackson watched the rest of the game from the bench.

Stevens was a much-needed contributor, showcasing the skills she worked on during the offseason, notably her improved three-point shooting. She scored 12 of the team’s first 17 points, making her first trio of three-point attempts to give the Sparks an early lead.

Defensively, Stevens drew the tough assignment of containing Collier, a matchup nightmare for the entire Sparks unit. Coming off a 34-point outing Friday that tied her career high, Collier scored 23 points.

The Sparks leaned heavily on Plum in their season-opening win Friday against Golden State, logging 40 minutes — a workload coach Lynne Roberts called “unsustainable.” To lighten the load, Roberts turned to Barker for critical minutes at the point.

While Barker wasn’t stellar offensively, she played 24 minutes and brought a much-needed jolt of defensive energy. Plum finished with 18 points and five assists.

It marked Barker’s first game at Crypto.com Arena — a milestone for the self-proclaimed “Mamba Mentality” disciple, stepping up for a depleted backcourt. With just four healthy guards available, the team continues to navigate Rae Burrell’s absence as she recovers from a knee injury that is expected to keep her out six to eight weeks.