Fever earn last-minute win, damage Sparks' playoff hopes

Odyssey Sims converted a go-ahead floater with 13.6 seconds left Friday night and the visiting Indiana Fever edged the Los Angeles Sparks 76-75.

It was the last of 21 points for Sims, who got the shot after Aliyah Boston rebounded the miss of Kelsey Mitchell's 3-point attempt. Lexie Hull fed Sims cutting to the bucket, and Sims made what turned out to be the winning shot.

Los Angeles (17-20) turned the ball over on the ensuing possession and couldn't get it back until Dearica Hamby rebounded the second of two missed foul shots by Mitchell with 0.4 seconds left. The Sparks didn't squeeze off a shot in time.

Boston led Indiana (21-18), which stayed in sixth place in the WNBA, with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Mitchell added 12 points as the Fever won despite hitting just 40.7 percent of their field-goal attempts.

Azura Stevens scored 17 points for Los Angeles, including a free throw with 31.6 seconds remaining that gave the hosts a 75-74 edge. Kelsey Plum and reserve Rae Burrell added 12 each, while Hamby finished with 11.

The Sparks canned 48.2 percent from the field but were outrebounded 40-30 and fell two games behind the Golden State Valkyries for the final playoff spot.

Needing a win badly to enhance its playoff chances, Los Angeles came out blazing hot in a 31-point first quarter. The Sparks nailed 5 of 8 3-point attempts, including Burrell's corner trey with 5.4 seconds left to take a seven-point advantage.

Los Angeles predictably cooled off to start the second quarter, managing just a Plum layup in the first 4 1/2 minutes. But the Sparks found their footing again and got to the half with a 47-44 lead.

Indiana completely clamped down on the Sparks in the first eight minutes of the third quarter, allowing only five points and taking a 57-52 lead on Aerial Powers' 3-pointer with 2:26 left. But Los Angeles rallied for a 58-57 edge when Burrell converted a layup with 4.5 seconds remaining.