Sparks struggle again, losing to Mercury, 70-66

Diana Taurasi scored 26 points and made two free throws with 8 seconds left to ice the Phoenix Mercury’s 70-66 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday night.

The Mercury (12-14) had their largest lead at 64-55 on Brittney Griner’s basket with 6:33 left and Los Angeles went scoreless after Kristi Toliver’s 3-pointer cut it to 68-66 with 1:24 left. It was Toliver’s 400th career 3-pointer.

Taurasi was 4 of 10 from 3-point range to help Phoenix improve to 4-1 in its last five games.

Candace Parker had 25 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for Los Angeles (21-5), and Nneka Ogwumike added 15 points and nine rebounds for Los Angeles. The Sparks have lost four of five after opening 20-1. They dropped a half-game behind Minnesota for the WNBA lead.