Short-handed Mercury burned by Sparks, fall below .500

Published Aug. 25, 2017 11:37 a.m. ET

PHOENIX -- Odyssey Sims scored a season-high 28 points and Nneka Ogwumike had 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Phoenix Mercury 82-67 on Thursday night.

Phoenix (15-16) struggled without a resting Diana Taurasi, turning it over nine times in the first 12 minutes.

Brittney Griner led the Mercury with 18 points and four blocks.

Los Angeles (23-8) won its fourth straight to get within one game of first-place Minnesota, which plays at the Sparks on Sunday.

Chelsea Gray and Candace Parker each scored 12 points for Los Angeles. Sims was 12 of 19 from the floor and had six rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Los Angeles opened the second quarter on a 14-2 run for a 30-20 lead and Gray beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 42-31.The Sparks used an 11-0 spurt midway through the third for a 53-36 advantage and cruised in the fourth.

Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said she determined Taurasi needed a rest.

"The last two games if you've seen her play, she's tired," Brondello said. We didn't even hardly play her in those games. It's a long season and she really did a lot of work especially when (Griner) was out and she really carried this team, and I know we didn't get as many wins as we'd like, but she's 35. Four games in seven days, she can't do that.

"She just needs a few days off, because a fresh Diana with fresh legs is going to help us more than a tired Diana at the moment, and we need that going forward. The Sparks are a great team, good time to sit her out and get her ready, she has three days to get ready for Seattle. It's a big game for us, it's a tie-breaker so we need to win that one."

Taurasi said she understood her coach's decision, even if she didn't agree with it.

"I know I don't have many left, so I want to play," she said. "I mean I understand. When you play year round basketball, you have to do things that help you in the long run as a team right now. I'd rather have been out there than sitting on the bench, I can tell you that. But what are you going to do."

Taursasi said she remains confident that the Mercury will turn this around.

"It's not going to take much. We're right there. You know basketball is really fragile, when you're playing everything is going well, it's easy to be confident. And you know sometimes things get a little hard, and things are a little hard for us right now. That's when you play your best basketball, when things are hard.

"We have enough talent in this locker room to turn things around really quick so I'm excited, I'm confident in what we have, we're just going to have to go forward."