Mystics, Sparks each determined to shake recent struggles

Even as the losses stack up for the Washington Mystics and Los Angeles Sparks, both teams have their chins up ahead of Friday's game in Washington.

The Mystics (12-13) have sputtered amid a slew of injuries, losing eight of their last 11 games.

The Mystics are playing without starters Elena Delle Donne (ankle), Ariel Atkins (ankle) and Shakira Austin (hip), as well as reserve Kristi Toliver (foot). Sunday's 80-73 loss at the Atlanta Dream capped an 0-3 road trip that dropped Washington below .500 for the first time since they were 1-2 on May 23.

"It does no good to pout or feel bad for myself or anything like that," Mystics head coach Eric Thibault said, per the Washington Post. "That's not how I'm wired, and that's not how this group's wired."

Still, Washington owns a two-game cushion on the Chicago Sky for the seventh playoff spot and is 8-4 at home this season, while the reeling Sparks (9-17) have lost six straight away from Los Angeles.

And while the Mystics have four days to heal ahead of Friday's game, the Sparks will be on shorter rest after making the cross-country trek following Tuesday's 76-69 home loss to the New York Liberty, their 10th defeat in 12 games.

Los Angeles led by four entering the fourth quarter Tuesday and clung to a 67-66 lead with 2:58 remaining before the Liberty closed the game on a 10-2 surge.

The Sparks' late-game fizzle knocked them 1 1/2 games below Chicago for the eighth and final spot in the WNBA playoffs with just over a month left in the regular season.

Tuesday's defeat, however, didn't deter Los Angeles coach Curt Miller, who praised his team's grittiness against one of the WNBA's premier offenses.

"Can't be more proud of our fight," Miller said. "... (Our players) will realize how many good things we did in that game to put ourselves in position to beat the team with the second-best record in the league."

Miller gets 19.9 points per game from his top scorer Nneka Ogwumike, while Thibault has watched Brittney Sykes emerge as the Mystics' top healthy bucket-getter with her 14.5 scoring average, including 21.2 per game over the last five contests.

The Mystics and Sparks will reconvene on Sunday in Washington.