The surging Indiana Fever (17-16) start a six-game homestand against the struggling Los Angeles Sparks (7-25), who are last in the 12-team WNBA.
Indiana has won six of seven games since the Olympic break, and it has matched championship contenders New York and Minnesota with an 8-2 record over its past 10 games.
The Fever own the league’s best backcourt scoring duo in Kelsey Mitchell (19.0 points per game for the season, 26.7 since the break) and Caitlin Clark (18.7, 24.6). Fellow All-Star Aliyah Boston adds 13.4 points and 9.0 rebounds, and NaLyssa Smith 11.1 points and 7.5 rebounds.
The Sparks have lost eight of their last nine games. However, that win came against the WNBA-leading New York Liberty. Dearica Hamby leads L.A. with 17.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. Rookie Rickea Jackson adds 12.6 points (37.2% on 3-pointers), and Azura Stevens 10.5 points and 5.9 rebounds.
The Fever are sixth in the 12-team league, one game ahead of the Phoenix Mercury and 2.5 games behind the Seattle Storm, one of five teams to clinch a playoff berth. Eight teams make the WNBA playoffs.
