Returning home from a rough road swing, the Los Angeles Sparks will look to bounce back after a lengthy layoff when they host the Seattle Storm on Monday.

Los Angeles (8-10) dropped decisions by 28 points at Toronto on June 25 and 24 points at Indiana on June 27. The blowout losses came on the heels of the Sparks learning they would be without leading scorer Kelsey Plum for a stretch of at least four weeks.

A nine-year veteran who is averaging 2.6 made 3-pointers and a career-high 23.9 points per game, Plum sustained a left leg injury that required heavy wrapping during Los Angeles’ 98-97 win over New York on June 21.

“She’s the best one-on-one player in the league. She’s having an MVP (type of) season,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said of Plum.

Roberts lamented Plum being excluded from the starting lineup of the WNBA All-Star Game, which was determined by a combination of fan, player and media balloting. Plum finished sixth among guards in fan voting, with Los Angeles teammate Nneka Ogwumike eighth among frontcourt players.

Ogwumike is averaging 16.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in Year 1 of her second tenure with the Sparks. Ogwumike leads Los Angeles on Monday against a Seattle franchise for which she finished in the top seven of MVP voting in the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Ogwumike’s exit to return to Los Angeles, where she previously played from 2012-2023, is not the only change from a year ago for the struggling Storm (5-17).

Gone from Seattle’s 2025 roster after sweeping offseason changes are Gabby Williams, Skylar Diggins, Brittney Sykes and Erica Wheeler, a veteran guard who joined Ogwumike with the Sparks. Of the Storm’s top six scorers a season ago, four-time WNBA All-Defensive honoree forward Ezi Magbegor is the only one still in the Seattle organization.

Magbegor, though, was sidelined for the first 20 games of the regular season with a right foot injury. She made her 2026 debut in Thursday’s 90-67 loss at Phoenix, scoring eight points in 17 minutes. Magbegor followed that with four points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 14 minutes of Seattle’s 77-72 loss Saturday to Portland.

While the new-look Storm roster adjusted before Magbegor’s return, rookie Awa Fam stepped up as one of the team’s most consistent contributors. Fam is averaging 12.0 points on 51.7% shooting from the floor, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

“It’s just been fun to see her growth over the last few games,” Magbegor said of Fam. “She’s not new to this professional life, but just to be able to see her settle into the (WNBA) is really exciting.”

–Field Level Media

Kelsey Mitchell poured in 27 points and the visiting Indiana Fever pulled away from the Las Vegas Aces to win 84-68 on Sunday.

Aliyah Boston’s 18 points and 10 rebounds were critical for the Fever (12-8), who hadn’t played in more than a week. Lexie Hull added 10 points. It marked Indiana’s first-ever regular-season victory in Las Vegas.

Mitchell, who was 7-for-18 from the field and made 10 of 12 free throws, scored 25-plus points for the third game in a row as Indiana launched a four-game road trip.

Mitchell, Boston and Sophie Cunningham connected on three 3-point shots apiece for the Fever.

Jackie Young led Las Vegas with 15 points, while Jewell Loyd posted 12 points and Chelsea Gray had 10 points. Gray shot 2-for-11 from the field.

The Aces (15-6), who fell out of a first-place tie atop the league standings, made 40% of their shots. That included 4-for-19 on 3-pointers (21.1%). Las Vegas failed to reach the 70-point mark for the second time this season.

Both teams were without injured All-Star starters, with the Fever minus Caitlin Clark (back) and the Aces missing league scoring leader A’ja Wilson (ankle).

The Fever stormed out to a 66-53 lead in the third quarter. Boston scored the first eight Indiana points of the quarter.

Hull hit her second shot with the shot clock winding down when she drained a jumper from the left side to extend the margin to 75-62 with 4:24 remaining. That basket ended the Fever’s scoring drought that was approaching five minutes.

The Aces managed only five points in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Fever, despite being outscored 11-5 on free throws in the first half, went to the break holding a 42-41 lead. Neither team led by more than six points in the opening half.

Mitchell and Loyd each had 12 points at halftime to pace their respective teams.

–Field Level Media

Forward Egor Chinakhov signed a three-year, $18.75 million contract to remain with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

Chinakhov, who was a restricted free agent, will earn an average annual salary of $6.25 million.

Pittsburgh also kept goaltender Arturs Silovs in the fold by signing the restricted free agent to a one-year, $2.8 million contract.

The Penguins acquired Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 29, 2025 for forward Danton Heinen and two draft picks.

Chinakhov had six points (three goals, three assists) in 29 games for the Blue Jackets and 36 points (18 goals, 18 assists) in 43 regular-season games for the Penguins. He played in six playoff games for Pittsburgh and had no points or penalty minutes with a minus-4 rating, three blocks and 11 hits.

The Russia native, 25, has career totals of 113 points (55 goals, 58 assists), 46 penalty minutes, 102 blocks and 216 hits in 247 regular-season games for Columbus (2021-25) and Pittsburgh.

Columbus selected Chinakhov in the first round (21st overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft.

Silovs, 25, was 19-12-8 last season for Pittsburgh with a 3.07 goals-against average and an .887 save percentage in 39 games (38 starts).

For his career, Silovs is 27-20-10 with a 3.09 GAA and an .885 save percentage in 58 games (56 starts) for the Vancouver Canucks (2022-25) and Penguins. He also is 7-6 with a 2.56 GAA and a .907 save percentage in 13 postseason starts.

Vancouver selected the Latvia native in the sixth round of the 2019 draft.

–Field Level Media