SPARKS TONIGHT

at Detroit, 3 PDT

Site -- The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Radio -- 1150.

Records -- Sparks 8-15, Shock 19-6.

Record vs. Shock -- 0-1.

Update -- The Sparks have dropped two in a row and lost 13 of their last 16 games. The league-leading Shock, by contrast, has won eight of its last 10 games despite playing the last four without forward Cheryl Ford, who is out for the rest of the season because of an injury to her left knee. Ford had been averaging a team-leading 11.2 rebounds a game. Despite her absence, the Shock outrebounded the Washington Mystics, 49-20, in a 76-64 victory Saturday. The performance does not bode well for the Sparks, who have been outrebounded in seven of their last 10 games, going 1-9 in that span. Forward LaToya Thomas, who had a team-high 19 points in a 79-73 loss to the Shock on June 18, played a bit more than 12 minutes but was ineffective in an 85-76 loss to Minnesota on Friday after sitting out seven games because of a calf injury.

-- Lauren Peterson