Portland takes on Los Angeles, seeks to halt 3-game slide
Portland Fire (16-26, 6-15 Western Conference) at Los Angeles Sparks (15-26, 8-12 Western Conference)
Los Angeles; Sunday, 7 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Portland Fire is looking to break its three-game slide with a win over Los Angeles Sparks.
The Sparks have gone 8-12 against Western Conference teams. Los Angeles is 4-12 in games decided by 10 or more points.
The Fire have gone 6-15 against Western Conference opponents. Portland is 8-17 against opponents over .500.
Los Angeles scores 87.1 points per game, 3.8 fewer points than the 90.9 Portland allows. Portland averages 86.2 points per game, 5.7 fewer points than the 91.9 Los Angeles gives up.
The teams play for the third time this season. The Sparks won the last meeting 106-101 on Aug. 2. Dearica Hamby scored 23 points to help lead the Sparks to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Nneka Ogwumike is shooting 51.7% and averaging 17.2 points for the Sparks. Hamby is averaging 12.3 points over the last 10 games.
Megan Gustafson is averaging 13.1 points for the Fire. Emily Engstler is averaging 13.5 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Sparks: 3-7, averaging 80.6 points, 31.1 rebounds, 21.5 assists, 9.3 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 86.7 points per game.
Fire: 3-7, averaging 83.7 points, 32.5 rebounds, 19.3 assists, 8.2 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 88.0 points.
INJURIES: Sparks: None listed.
Fire: Teja Oblak: out (knee), Bridget Carleton: out (ankle), Sarah Ashlee Barker: out for season (knee), Sania Feagin: out for season (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.