third quarter

Warner Bros. Discovery reported a $148 million loss in the third quarter, hitting a sour note as the company began fielding interest from would-be buyers as Hollywood braces for a transforming deal.

Earnings for the entertainment company that includes HBO, CNN and the Warner Bros. film and TV studios fell short of analyst expectations. A year ago, the company reported profit of $135 million for the third quarter.

Revenue of $9.05 billion declined 6% from the year-ago period. The company swung to a loss of 6 cents a share, compared to last year’s earnings of 5 cents a share.

Still, Chief Executive David Zaslav spent much of Thursday’s call with analysts touting his company’s underlying strengths — while avoided giving details about the company’s sale.

“It’s fair to say that we have an active process underway,” Zaslav said.

Warner Bros. Discovery on Thursday reiterated it is forging ahead with previously announced plans to split into two separate entities by next spring. However, the Warner board acknowledged last month that it was also entertaining offers for the entire company — or its parts — after David Ellison’s Paramount expressed its interest with formal bids.

Paramount has made three offers, including a $58 billion in cash and stock for all of Warner Bros. Discovery. That bid would pay Warner stockholders $23.50 a share.

The Ellison family appears determined to win one of Hollywood’s most storied entertainment companies to pair with Paramount, which the Ellisons and RedBird Capital Partners acquired in August.

But Warner Bros. Discovery’s board, including Zaslav, voted unanimously to reject Paramount’s offers and instead opened the auction to other bidders, which is expected to lead to the firm changing hands for the third time in a decade.

Board members are betting the company, which has shown flickers of a turnaround, is worth more than the offers on the table. Despite its rocky third-quarter results, Warner’s stock held its ground in early morning trading at around $22.60 a share.

“Overall we are very bullish,” Zaslav said of the company’s business prospects.

“When you look at our films like ‘Superman,’ ‘Weapons’ and ‘One Battle After Another,’ the global reach of HBO Max and the diversity of our network’s offerings, we’ve managed to bring the best, most treasured traditions of Warner Bros. forward into a new era of entertainment and [a] new media landscape,” he said.

But the company’s results underscored its business challenges.

The studio witnessed a major decline in advertising revenue in the third quarter, reporting $1.41 billion, down 16% from the previous year, which executives attributed to declines in the audience for its domestic linear channels, including CNN, TNT and TLC.

Distribution revenue also took a hit, as the company reported sales of $4.7 billion, a decrease of 4% compared to last year.

Studio revenue increased 24% to $3.3 billion, powered by the success of DC Studios’ “Superman,” horror flick “Weapons” and the latest installment of “The Conjuring.” But even those box office wins couldn’t totally offset shortfalls in other areas of its content business.

Last year, the company was able to sub-license its rights to broadcast the Olympics in Europe, which pushed content revenue to $2.72 billion. But this year, revenue was down 3% to $2.65 billion.

Burbank-based Warner Bros. has had a string of success in theaters, with nine films opening at the top spot globally at the box office. The studio recently surpassed $4 billion in worldwide box office revenue, making it the first studio to do so this year. Warner Bros. last achieved that milestone in 2019.

Zaslav would like to continue with Warner’s break-up plans, which were announced last June.

The move would allow him to stay on to manage a smaller Hollywood-focused entity made up of the Warner Bros. studios, HBO, streaming service HBO Max and the company’s vast library, which includes Harry Potter movies and award-winning television shows such as “The Pitt.”

The company’s large portfolio of cable channels, including HGTV, Food Network and Cartoon Network, would become Discovery Global and operate independently.

Beyond Paramount, Philadelphia-based Comcast, Netflix and Amazon have expressed interest in considering buying parts of the company.

The company said its third quarter loss of $148 million was the result of a $1.3 billion expense, including restructuring costs.

The Lakers were not whole for their season opener and that meant Luka Doncic had a heavier load to carry while LeBron James sat on the bench injured in this game against rivals Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

So, the question while James recovers from sciatica injury on his right side, is who will fill his void and help Doncic navigate the stretch his running mate is out.

The Lakers didn’t get that complete answer Tuesday night, falling 119-109 to the Warriors at Crypto.com Arena despite Doncic’s impressive performance of a near triple-double with 43 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.

James is entering an NBA-record 23rd season, but it was the first time over his career that he has missed a season opener.

He sat on the end of the Lakers’ bench dressed in a double-breasted suit, cheering his teammates on, offering words of encouragement when necessary, knowing that was the only way he could help until returns to the court in mid-November.

“It’s hard to forget about LeBron, (but) the reality is, when you’re focused on the group that you have, you’ve got to make the group work,” said coach JJ Redick afterward. “Sometimes you can just be like, ‘Oh my God, we’re gonna get LeBron back at some point.’ Like it’s awesome, but you are focused. I’ll be honest with you, I did have one moment in that first half when we had a few possessions when we couldn’t score against the zone and I thought, ‘It’d be great to have LeBron.”

Lakers guard Austin Reaves gets past Warriors guard Gary Payton II for a layup during the second half Friday night.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

When the Lakers went inside to center Deandre Ayton, he didn’t overpower the small Warriors. Ayton got seven touches, scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds.

But he had four turnovers. One of the other issues was his teammates trying to get the ball inside to Ayton. The lobs just weren’t working, a big reason why the Lakers had 19 turnovers.

“Yeah, today, I was realizing I’m probably a confusing big (center), whether I can roll and stand in the pocket, probably gets a little difficult for them sometimes,” Ayton said. “I’m so used to the league having that low man on me. Sometimes I can’t even finish a roll, and I tiny bit linger around the free-throw area just to be available for him.”’

Austin Reaves showed he was up to the task with James out, producing 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

But he had a team-high five turnovers and picked up five fouls by the third quarter.

“We haven’t had a lot of time together as a complete group,” Reaves said. “Obviously, we’re still not complete, but we’re just gonna continue to build, get better, and learn how to play alongside one another. I mean, I had five turnovers tonight, and I don’t think a couple of them are just dumb. But a couple of them were just miscommunications on where I needed to throw a pass to DA (Deandre Ayton). It wasn’t the wrong read. It was the wrong pass at the right time, basically. So it’s just like learning those little things, and you learn those on the fly.”

The Warriors, meanwhile, had four players score in double-figures and that was a big difference in the game. Jimmy Butler led the Warriors with 31 points, Stephen Curry had 23 and Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield each had 17.

The Lakers fell into a hole in the third quarter, going down by 17 points, putting them in catch-up mode.

They were outscored 35-25 in the third. They allowed the Warriors to make 60% of their shots, 50% (five-for-10) of their three-pointers.

Even with the Lakers cutting that deficit to six points in the fourth, their poor play in the third doomed them again.

“The trend I see is that we continue to be a terrible third-quarter team to start,” Redick said. “That was last year. That was the preseason. Gotta rethink some things and it’s, you know, a two-way thing with the guys. What do they need at halftime to make sure they’re ready to play? They’re not ready to play to start the third quarter.”

Etc.

The Lakers picked up the rookie option on Dalton Knecht for $4.2 million for the 2026-27 season, according to people not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. … The Lakers said that forward/center Maxi Kleber has an oblique strain and will be reevaluated in two to three weeks.

Nobody knows why cramps really happen, but Friday night’s Gardena Serra-Sierra Canyon high school football game took the issue to an unprecedented level.

Serra players kept cramping on defense, repeatedly slowing down Sierra Canyon’s up-tempo offense. By the end of the third quarter, Sierra Canyon coach Jon Ellinghouse had seen enough. His 11 offensive players, at his direction, simultaneously went to the ground and engaged in fake cramping.

That caused an enraged Serra coach Scott Altenberg to go on the field and be held back by others. Officials halted the game briefly and called 15-yard penalties on Sierra Canyon and Serra.

Ellinghouse said after his team’s 30-0 victory that he was frustrated with the repeated game stoppages and in hindsight, regrets having his players engage in the fake cramps.

Altenberg said he was never angrier in 27 years of coaching. He denied his team was faking cramps to influence the game. “I’m not that kind of coach,” he said.

It wasn’t the only controversy on Friday night. Salesian scored 91 points to beat Cantwell-Sacred Heart 91-13. It was 84-7 at halftime.

Salesian coach Anthony Atkins said he started substituting in the first quarter. There was no running clock until the third quarter. Cantwell-Sacred Heart apparently didn’t ask for a running clock in the first half.

In a text message, Atkins said, “I went back and watched the film just to make sure there wasn’t any malice or that it didn’t look like we were trying to run up the score. Honestly, there was nothing more we could have done short of sitting our guys for the entire game.”

The Mira Costa-Lawndale game was halted with Mira Costa ahead 14-0 in the first quarter because of a security threat at Mira Costa after a bullet was discovered on campus. Also canceled was a girls’ volleyball tournament.

In a developing story, standout quarterback Brady Smigiel of Newbury Park was injured in a game against Santa Barbara and left in the second half. Smigiel, who has committed to Michigan, was expected to get an MRI exam on a knee on Saturday.

The Sparks defeated the Dallas Wings 91-77 on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena to keep their faint playoff hopes alive heading into the final week of the regular season.

Julie Allemand finished with 21 points, a career-high five steals and four assists, and Rae Burrell had 13 points as the Sparks went on a 16-0 run in the fourth quarter.

The Sparks (20-22) must win their final two games against Phoenix and Las Vegas and have Seattle lose to Golden State on Tuesday to make the postseason.

The Sparks led for nearly the entire game, capitalizing on 10 three-pointers, 12 steals and six players scoring in double digits.

Dallas, however, went on a 19-2 run at the beginning of the third quarter and managed to briefly lead twice.

Amy Okonkwo hit a three-pointer with 8.9 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Wings (9-34) a one-point lead. But the Sparks didn’t waste time responding, with Allemand hitting a three-pointer before the buzzer that put the Sparks ahead for good.

The Sparks then pulled away in the fourth quarter, with Burrell scoring 11 points.

Momentum shifted in the third quarter as the Wings went on a 19-2 run in the beginning of the quarter.

Dallas managed to take a one-point lead late in the third quarter before Allemand hit a three-pointer before the buzzer that put the Sparks ahead for good. Burrell scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Sparks pull away.

Azurá Stevens had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Dearica Hamby finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Kelsey Plum had 12 points and Rickea Jackson contributed 11 points.

Dallas rookie Paige Bueckers finished with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds for Dallas. Myisha Hines-Allen had 15 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Maddy Siegrist added 13 points and four rebounds for the Wings.

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — The Sparks inched closer to playoff elimination on Friday night.

Rhyne Howard tied the WNBA record with nine 3-pointers and finished with 37 points, Atlanta tied the team record with 19 3s and the Dream beat the Sparks 104-85.

Howard had three attempts at the record, which she already shared with Kelsey Mitchell (2019), Jewell Loyd (2023) and Arike Ogunbowale (2024). She is the first two accomplish the feat twice, both this season.

Atlanta (28-14), which clinched home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs, tied the team record on Jordin Canada’s shot with 1:44 to play. New York hit 19 3-pointers twice this season and Las Vegas had 23 3s in a playoff game.

The Sparks’ Dearica Hamby shoots the ball under pressure from the Dream’s Brittney Griner during the second quarter at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Ga., on Friday.

(Paras Griffin / Getty Images)

Maya Caldwell hit five 3s and scored 19 points for Atlanta and Brionna Jones added 12. The Dream were 19 for 39 from the arc. Howard was 9 for 17 and Caldwell 5 for 7.

Dearica Hamby scored 26 points on 11-for-15 shooting for the Sparks (19-22), who are 2 1/2 games behind Indiana in seventh place in the standings and Seattle in eighth. The Fever and Storm have an easier remaining schedules as they push to become one of the league’s eight playoff teams.

Kelsey Plum added 20 points and Rickea Jackson 17 for the Sparks.

The Sparks tied the score at 64 on Hamby’s layup in the middle of the third quarter but then the Dream reeled off 13 straight, which included back-to-back 3s by Caldwell and Howard’s eighth 3.

Howard’s record-tying 3, with 28.7 seconds left, made it 85-71. Caldwell had 11 points in the third quarter and Atlanta led 85-72.

Howard made five 3s in the first quarter, seven in the first half when she had 29 points and the Dream led 56-52.

The Sparks are home against Dallas on Sunday.

NEW YORK — Rickea Jackson‘s layup at the buzzer lifted the Sparks to a 101-99 win over the New York Liberty on Saturday night.

The Liberty also lost star Breanna Stewart to a lower leg injury three minutes into the game. Stewart had three points and a rebound before she left and went to the locker room. New York was playing the second game on back-to-back nights. The Liberty rallied to beat Phoenix on Friday night.

Sabrina Ionescu, who scored 30 points, tied the score at 99 with an elbow jumper with 23.1 seconds left. Los Angeles worked the clock down before Stephanie Talbot fouled Kelsey Plum with 5.9 seconds left. The Liberty still had a foul to give, so the Sparks got the ball on the side.

After a timeout, Jackson got the ball in the post and threw a shot up over her head just before time expired. She finished with 24 points and Plum added 20 for the Sparks, who have won five straight.

The Liberty (17-7), who had a five-game winning streak stopped, were down 15 points early in the third quarter before rallying. Ionescu’s three-point play with 2:18 left in the game tied it at 95. After the teams exchanged baskets, Azurá Stevens hit a layup with 1:03 left to give the Sparks a 99-97 advantage.

Los Angeles (11-14) led by 15 early in the third quarter before New York rallied. The Liberty got to 65-61 and then Ionescu hit a three-pointer that was waved off because off an illegal screen on Jonquel Jones. Ionescu vehemently disagreed with the call, telling the official to “tech me.” The referee obliged, giving the star guard a technical foul.

Sparks forward Azurá Stevens drives down the lane past Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich during their game Saturday.

(Catalina Fragoso / NBAE via Getty Images)

New York trailed 74-69 heading into the fourth quarter before coming back behind Natasha Cloud and Ionescu. Cloud had 10 of her 22 points in the final 10 minutes.

Los Angeles came out hot, making 13 of its 19 shots in the first quarter, including seven three-pointers. Jackson had 17 points in the opening quarter as the Sparks led 35-20. The team kept it going in the second quarter and was up 58-45 at the half, making 10 of its 18 shots from behind the arc.

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.

LAS VEGAS — The Clippers’ NBA Summer League contest Friday against the Houston Rockets offered a chance for Kobe Brown to show he’s capable of being a rotational player for the Clippers this season.

But misfortune struck in the third quarter when Brown got tangled with a Rockets defender who fell on his right ankle. Brown sat on the Clippers’ bench for a few minutes before he limped to their locker room.

Brown didn’t return in the Clippers’ 95-92 win at Cox Pavilion on Friday night after sustaining what the team described as a right ankle contusion.

Brown is entering his third season with the Clippers and the team is eager for the 2023 30th overall draft pick to make an impact. He’ll make $2.65 million this season and will have a qualifying offer for next season at $4.7 million.

“He’s just got to continue to do what he did tonight,” said Clippers assistant coach Jerry Castleberry, the team’s Summer League coach. “Play great defense. Make the right reads. We’ve been talking about it all training camp. Get in the paint, draw two, make the right reads and if they put a small on him, he showed his ability to be able to score against a mismatch tonight and doing it the right way — quickly, getting downhill, not dancing, just getting straight to the point.

Brown scored 10 points in the first quarter, going four for five from the field, making both of his three-point attempts. On one of those threes, he ran the length of the court and took a pass for a lob dunk.

Brown finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists in 20 minutes.

“Ankle is good,” Castleberry said. “Ankle is fine. Just precautionary. He’ll be OK.”

The Clippers waived Jordan Miller before summer league started, but they still had a roster spot so he was added to the team.

He did not disappoint Friday, producing 23 points and 11 rebounds.

Miller has been given an opportunity to show the Clippers — and any other team — how the Summer League is useful for him.

“With this team it takes a lot of humility. Not thinking less of yourself but also thinking less of yourself,” Miller said. “Just finding a way to maximize whatever role it is. It’s not just for me, but it’s for all the guys. We got guys that can score. The only way we’re going to get on the floor is defending and making open threes. That’s just the reality of it. … But for the most part, just working game reps. Like, you’re not going to get a lot of ball-screens. You’re not going to get a lot of touches. So you just got to work on your off-ball shooting, movement shooting and being able to not mess up defensively.”

It was on defense where Clippers rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser was at his best.

Niederhauser blocked four shots and had 10 rebounds. He used his seven-foot frame as a deterrent and displayed why the Clippers drafted him out of Penn State.

“He did everything he was supposed to do,” Castleberry said. “He was great with rim-protection, changing shots and I just thought he was good.”

SAN FRANCISCO — The Lakers rallied from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter, closing the three-game California Classic with a win over the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night at Chase Center.

Lakers forward Darius Bazley led all players in scoring with 27 points on seven-for-nine shooting, hitting the game-sealing dunk. Bazley also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

When asked what sparked the rally for the Lakers, Bazley responded, “Our defense, just turning up the intensity, turning up our physicality. Ultimately it was just our mindset, you just want to finish through.”

The Lakers stepped up with key defensive rebounds and stops down the stretch, with Bazley being the defensive focal point. He has been the team’s top defender statistically throughout summer league games.

“There’s a lot of dogs on this team, defensively.” Bazley said. “That’s a big point of emphasis that we had throughout training camp, leading up to now, going into Vegas. So it’s on our minds going into huddles, something that we constantly talk about.”

Dalton Knecht was also pivotal in the Lakers’ comeback win, scoring 25 points and collecting eight rebounds on 50% shooting, including four three-pointers.

Knecht went 0-for-nine from three-point range during his first two games of the California Classic.

“I finally found my rhythm. Took a while, took a couple games but I just stayed the course.” Knecht said reflecting on his performance, “All my teammates believed in me to go out and hit those shots. When I saw one fall I kept shooting and my teammates kept finding me.”

The Lakers got off to a slow start, shooting less than 40% in the first half, but they found their rhythm when it mattered.

“Every single one of us picked up full court and made life pretty hard, trying to run them out of their sets which we did a good job off especially down the stretch.” Knecht said discussing what raised the teams level defensively.

Bronny James, still working on getting his conditioning back to game level, played just over five minutes and scored two points.

Cole Swider, who tallied 15 points against the Spurs, was named to the 2025 All-California Classic team. Swider averaged 19.7 points, shooting 57.6% from the field, 47.6% from three and 91.7% from the free-throw line. Swider added five rebounds a game with a steal and a block in 28.7 minutes across three games.

The Lakers will travel to Las Vegas and will play the Dallas Mavericks, led by No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg, on Thursday.

CHICAGO — Kamilia Cardoso scored a career-high 27 points, Angel Reese had a double-double and the Chicago Sky beat the Sparks 97-86 on Tuesday night.

Reese finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds. Ariel Atkins scored 13 points for the Sky (4-10).

Chicago took its first lead, 74-72, at 7:23 of the fourth quarter on a driving layup by Cardoso and outscored the Sparks 30-17 in the final period.

Azura Stevens scored 21 points and Kelsey Plum had 20 for the Sparks (4-11), who lost their fourth straight. Dearica Hamby had 15 points and Rickea Jackson 11.

Cardoso followed her tiebreaking basket with a short jump shot, and moments later added a free throw to make it 77-72, and Chicago’s lead increased from there.

Cardoso will miss the next four games playing for her Brazilian national team at a tournament in Chile. The Sky also announced veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot had successful ACL surgery on her right knee.

The Sparks took control early, jumping out to a 10-2 lead in less than 90 seconds and had a 27-17 advantage after one quarter. Chicago cut the deficit to 31-28 early in the second quarter before the Sparks surged again, going up 44-32 . The Sky rallied again, getting to within 48-42 at halftime.

In the closing minutes of the third quarter, Rebecca Allen made a three-pointer and a runner, tying the score at 65-65 and 67-67, but the Sky never led. Plum’s basket in the last minute of the third gave the Sparks a 69-67 lead heading into the fourth.

Sunday’s matchup between the Sparks and Phoenix Mercury felt like déjà vu. When the Sparks faced Phoenix last month, the game ended with a failed Sparks comeback.

In a twist of fate, Sunday’s comeback belonged to Phoenix.

Unable to stay ahead after building an 18-point lead, the Sparks fell 85-80 to the Mercury at Crypto.com Arena for their third consecutive loss.

As with the first meeting, the third quarter proved to be the Sparks’ undoing. After scoring just seven points in the third quarter of their loss to Phoenix on May 21, the Sparks were outscored 24-9 in the third Sunday.

“You’ve got to live with it,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. “Sometimes we have a bad day. It’s a bad day to have a bad day. We have a lead like that, but that’s the game.”

Before the game, Roberts said consistency in transition defense, avoiding prolonged bad stretches and fluid ball movement would define a strong third quarter. None of that materialized against Phoenix (5-2).

But even more costly was their inability to score in the second half.

“This game came down to us not shooting,” Roberts said. “We had eight threes in the first half. We finished with eight. They had the same amount of field goals we did. They just hit four more threes.”

After opening with their best first quarter of the season, the Sparks became visibly frustrated in the second half. A three-pointer from Kathryn Westbeld with 2:11 left in the third gave the Mercury their first lead, 58-57, and capped a 21-5 run.

The shift in energy was palpable in what became a chippy, physical game. Momentum swung in Phoenix’s favor late in the third when Satou Sabally was fouled by Kelsey Plum while scoring on a layup, pointing and shouting to the Sparks bench as she celebrated.

Sabbaly exchanged words with the Sparks bench throughout the game, and drew a technical foul before halftime. After the game, she said her and-one celebration was aimed at her former assistant — now Sparks assistant coach — Zak Buncik.

“Well, he just motivated me a little bit. So, I was telling him, ‘Thanks,’” she said.

Sabally finished as the Mercury’s leading scorer with 24 points. She also had nine rebounds.

The teams traded leads early in the fourth quarter. Trailing by two, with 25 seconds left, Plum turned over the ball while trying to pass to an open shooter. Plum then fouled Kitija Laksa, who made two free throws to make it a four-point game.

Plum was one for 13 in the second half, finishing with 15 points and six rebounds.

“I just missed,” Plum said. “I had four really good looks that felt good coming out of my hands at the end of the game. I’m going to get another chance to do it, and I’ll hit them. But, I mean, I just didn’t feel like I had my legs.”

Playing seven games in 15 days, the loss capped off a grueling stretch — one that Roberts attributed to the team’s inconsistency as a result of lost practice time.

The Sparks (2-6) were a different team in the first quarter behind a new starting lineup of Julie Allemand, Dearica Hamby, Azurá Stevens, Odyssey Sims, Plum. With Allemand in the lineup, Sarah Ashlee Barker, who had started the previous five games, came off the bench.

The Sparks scored 27 points and had a 10-point lead going into the second quarter. After struggling with flat starts all season, the team finally found an early rhythm — one they’ve shown in flashes, but haven’t sustained.

Standing at 5-foot-8, Sims — one of the Sparks’ fiercest competitors — helped keep the team in the game, scoring a game-high 32 points.

She relentlessly attacked the basket, giving Mercury defender Sami Whitcomb the “too small’ gesture in the process. She hit the floor multiple times on hard drives, fighting through contact, and getting in the faces of Mercury defenders to confront them about foul calls. At times, the toll of her effort showed, as she walked with a slight limp between plays.

“It was a little bit more aggressive,” Sims said of her performance. “I think the run was kind of big for me today. I tried to stay in that mode. We were up going into halftime, and I just wanted to just basically keep my foot on their necks.”

Despite the effort, Sims says the team “let this one slip away.”

Plum praised Sims’ ability to respond to the Mercury’s runs almost single-handedly — she scored 15 of the Sparks’ 30 second-half points — but it wasn’t enough to secure a much-needed win for a Sparks team that plays eight of its next 11 games on the road.

“Of course, this one stings,” Sims said. “We know it’s the third quarter. We keep saying the same thing over and over, kind of beating a dead horse at this point, but it’s going to be less talking about it, and more doing it.”

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.