LAS VEGAS — Kelsey Plum scored a season-high 38 points, Erica Wheeler hit the go-ahead three-pointer late in the fourth quarter, and the Sparks defeated the Las Vegas Aces 101-95 on Saturday night.
A three-pointer by Wheeler capped an 8-0 run for the Sparks in the first minute of the fourth quarter that gave the Sparks a 80-73 lead. The Aces battled back and tied it at 90 on a jumper in the lane by Chelsea Gray and again at 94 on two free throws by A’ja Wilson.
Wheeler then took a pass from Plum and hit a 27-foot three-pointer with 1:15 remaining, giving the Sparks a 97-94 lead. The Aces missed a couple of three-pointers and a free throw on their final possessions while Dearica Hamby and Plum sealed the win with two free throws each.
Hamby and Cameron Brink each scored 16, Ariel Atkins had 11, and Rae Burrell added 10 for the Sparks (3-3). Wheeler had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Plum had nine assists.
Wilson scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Aces (4-2). Carter scored 23 points off the bench. NaLyssa Smith added 22 points, Gray 12 and Jewell Loyd 10.
A three-pointer by Smith gave the Aces a 57-48 lead early in the third quarter but Plum rallied the Sparks with five points and three assists as the Sparks surged ahead 60-57. Neither team led by more than three points the rest of the quarter and Las Vegas took a 73-72 lead to the final period.
Las Vegas, the reigning WNBA champions, saw a four-game winning streak end. The Aces had won 20 of their last 21 regular-season games after finishing the 2025 regular season on a 16-game winning streak.
The Sparks were determined to end a season-opening four-game homestand with their second straight win against Toronto. Instead, the expansion Tempo avenged a four-point defeat two days earlier with a 106-96 victory Sunday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena.
Guard Kelsey Plum, who started the day tied for the WNBA lead in scoring at 26.3 points per game, paced the Sparks with 28, Dearica Hamby scored 21 and Nneka Ogwumike added 17 points and seven rebounds.
Trailing by 13 at one point in the fourth quarter, the Sparks cut the deficit to six on Plum’s two free throws with 4:27 left, but they got no closer. The Sparks fell to 1-3 (tied with Seattle for last place in the Western Conference) while Toronto improved to 2-2.
“We’re four games in so it would be immature to panic,” coach Lynne Roberts said. “It’s a long season but we do need to have urgency out there.”
The Tempo outscored the Sparks 9-3 in the last three minutes of the first quarter to take a 27-21 lead and widened the gap to 14 points on Laura Juskaite’s jumper with 4:28 left in the second. A Hamby three-point shot at the halftime buzzer rimmed out and the Sparks headed to the locker room down 49-40.
Rae Burrell committed her fifth personal with 4:33 left in the third and Kia Nurse made both free throws to give the Tempo their largest lead, 65-49. The margin grew to 17 before the Sparks closed the quarter with a 13-8 run.
After a 27-point performance in the first game, Brittney Sykes had 14 points by halftime in the rematch and finished with a career-high 38. Guard Kiki Rice, who led UCLA to the national championship in early April, added 19.
Toronto won the game at the foul line, making 39 of 42 attempts (92.9%) compared to 23 of 30 for the Sparks, who held a 26-25 edge in rebounding, a 48-38 advantage in points in the paint and outscored the visitors 20-12 on second-chance points.
“That was ugly… hard to watch,” Roberts said of the free throw discrepancy. “Seventy-two [total] free throws? I get it, they’re trying to clean it up but it’s painful. I’m not saying we weren’t fouling just that it’s challenging.”
The Sparks are still missing offseason acquisition Ariel Atkins (concussion protocol) and forward Sania Feagin has been out with a left leg strain since Wednesday. Atkins, a two-time All-Star, was traded from Chicago for Rickea Jackson on April 12.
“We’re going to have to have resilience,” said Plum, who had 27 points, nine assists and three steals in Friday’s win. “This league is tough. You’re going to get punched but you have to take it and punch back.”
Guard Erica Wheeler made her second start, contributing four points and seven assists and Hamby grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
“It felt good… my teammates made it an easy transition,” said guard Kate Martin, who joined the Sparks one week prior after being cut by Golden State and got her first points with her new team, netting 11 in 18 minutes of action. “I don’t care how many points I score, I just want to win.”
Kelsey Plum drives to the basket during the game against Toronto on Sunday.
(Juan Ocampo / Getty Images)
In their first year under Roberts the Sparks finished 21-23 last season — a 13-game improvement from 2024 — but they missed the playoffs for a fifth straight time, marking the longest postseason drought in franchise history. Plum averaged 19.5 points and 5.7 assists per game.
“The beauty of this is that it’s a process,” Roberts added. “We opened up with four games at home and we didn’t take care of business. We can feel sorry for ourselves or we can fix it.”
The Sparks begin a four-game trip Thursday in Phoenix, then travel to Las Vegas on May 23, Washington on May 29 and Connecticut on May 30 before returning home to host Las Vegas on June 2.
HOUSTON — LeBron James tapped the ball away from Houston’s Reed Sheppard. Marcus Smart fired a two-handed pass to James, who bobbled it and slapped it to Luke Kennard. Kennard faked a shot. He whipped a pass back to James.
Down three with 14 seconds left in regulation of Game 3 of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs Friday, James lined up a three. Two Houston players ran into each other while desperately trying to defend the shot.
With the ball hanging in the air and the game on the line, was there ever a doubt on the Lakers’ bench?
“Absolutely not,” guard Bronny James said. “It’s the Lakers.”
Already one of the league’s best clutch-time teams, the Lakers stirred up magic again Friday, overcoming a six-point deficit in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter to earn a 112-108 overtime win over the Houston Rockets. The Lakers took a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series and will go for their first playoff series sweep since the second round in 2010 on Sunday in Houston.
The Lakers already won two nervy road games over the Rockets during the regular season. But the hero from those wins was dressed in a crisp white T-shirt and gray pants Friday. Luka Doncic, nursing a left hamstring injury, even took off his white jacket during the dramatic overtime. He had no reason to worry with James at the helm.
The 41-year-old played 45 minutes and four seconds, hit the game-tying three-pointer with 13.6 seconds left in regulation and had a team-high 29 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Smart had 21 points, 10 assists and, for the second straight game, five steals, including one with 27.8 seconds left in regulation that set up three critical free throws.
The veterans have played in 406 combined playoff games and, hoping to add another win, showed the mentality shaped through each one.
Lakers forwards Jarred Vanderbilt, left, and LeBron James celebrate after their overtime against the Houston Rockets in Game 3 on Friday night.
(Michael Wyke / Associated Press)
“We’re just trying to have that killer mentality right now,” said Smart, who had eight of the Lakers’ 11 overtime points. “We got them on the ropes and then it’s our job to try to finish.”
The Rockets were desperate to avoid the dreaded 0-3 hole. They stormed back from a 15-point first-half deficit and took a one-point lead with 4:59 remaining on a three-pointer from Sheppard. The Houston crowd, which did not fill up until well into the first quarter, erupted.
James turned the ball over for the fourth time in the fourth quarter when Alperen Sengun tipped a bounce pass away from Kennard. Sengun appeared to punctuate the season-saving win with a one-handed dunk over James with 40.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
In the moment, Lakers forward Rui Hachimura admitted later, the Lakers felt a slight dip in their energy. They needed something to turn the tide.
Smart intercepted a lazy pass by Houston forward Jabari Smith Jr., and Jae’Sean Tate fouled the Lakers guard on a three-point attempt with 25.4 seconds left. He made all three free throws. The crowd grew restless. When James hit the game-tying three, those wearing the Rockets’ red T-shirts stood in stunned silence.
A vocal minority of Lakers fans were buzzing.
“Next play. Next play,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of the Lakers’ mindset during the critical stages of the game. “I mean, look, there’s a lot of things that happened tonight that were not perfect. … But you just kind of get onto the next play. And that, to me, is a hallmark of poise; that’s a hallmark of composure.”
While the Lakers had the league’s best record in clutch time games during the regular season (22-8), the Rockets ranked 16th. With a 22-23 record in games within five points in the final five minutes, the Rockets had the fifth-most clutch-time losses. Only Indiana, Memphis, Brooklyn, Dallas and New Orleans had more such losses.
Houston coach Ime Udoka called the foul on Smart “terrible.” Instead of passing to a wide-open Sengun, Sheppard tried to split a double-team on the decisive turnover. Sengun’s attempt at a game-winner when he got stood up by Jaxon Hayes on a turnaround baseline floater wasn’t the play the Rockets drew up, Udoka said.
“Horrendous mistakes,” the third-year Rockets coach said. “I don’t want to say youth or scared of the moment or whatever the case.”
The Rockets, who lost in seven games in the first round of the playoffs last year, were without star Kevin Durant for the second time this series. He missed the game with a sprained left ankle, an injury he sustained in the fourth quarter of Game 2. He was sidelined for Game 1 because of a knee contusion he picked up in practice. The 37-year-old was remarkably durable this season, ranking second in the NBA in minutes played. His presence was a lifeline for a team that lost point guard Fred VanVleet to a torn anterior cruciate ligament last September.
Durant was ruled out about 90 minutes before tip off. When told of the injury update during his pregame news conference, Redick was not fazed. The Lakers know who they have on their side.
