The Los Angeles Sparks were beginning to show signs of recovery from a slow start, only to see Kelsey Plum injure her ankle.

The Sparks will be without Plum for at least a week and hope they can find enough offense to compensate for the WNBA’s top scorer Friday night when they visit the Washington Mystics in a matchup of .500 teams.

Plum sprained her ankle in practice on Tuesday. Since she will not get revaluated until next Tuesday, she’ll also miss Saturday’s game at Connecticut and possibly Tuesday’s visit from Las Vegas. Plum has scored at least 25 in five games so far and leads the league at 26.8 points per game.

Los Angeles (3-3) is playing for the first time since Plum scored 38 points, including 24 in the second half, during Saturday’s 101-95 win at the Aces. Plum shot 12 for 17 and had nine assists, leading her coach Lynne Roberts to call her night “the most unselfish 38 points I’ve ever seen.

“But everybody, I could go down the whole roster,” Roberts said. “Just a total team win. Really proud of just the toughness.”

Los Angeles has scored at least 95 points in four straight games after opening the season with losses to Las Vegas and Indiana.

Without Plum, the Sparks are hoping Nneka Ogwumike can return after missing Saturday’s game with a hand injury. Ogwumike is averaging 15.6 points to start her second stint with the Sparks and practiced earlier this week.

The Sparks will also lean more on Dearica Hamby (18.5 ppg). She contributed 16 on Saturday after getting 27 two days earlier.

Washington (3-3) is attempting to earn consecutive victories for the first time in the early going. After losing by a combined 35 points to Dallas and Seattle, the Mystics earned a 78-64 win at Seattle on Wednesday.

The Mystics held the Storm to 34.9% shooting, marking the third time they allowed below 40%.

“I think (Wednesday) was a reflection of the players’ commitment to the Mystics and our DNA,” Washington coach Sydney Johnson said.

Washington also won despite a quiet showing from leading scorer Sonia Citron, who averages 17.2 points but was held to seven points for the second time in three games.

Without Citron’s production, the Mystics benefited from a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds from Shakira Austin. The Mystics also integrated Michaela Onyenwere into their lineup after the forward missed the first four games with a knee injury; she contributed 14 points.

–Field Level Media

New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson broke his right pinky finger earlier this week and there is no timetable for his return, according to multiple reports on Thursday.

The Knicks are playing in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, beginning Wednesday against the winner of the Western Conference finals. Oklahoma City plays Thursday night against host San Antonio with a 3-2 lead on the Spurs in the best-of-seven series.

Robinson, 28, had eight points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes in the Knicks’ 130-93 win over the host Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 on Monday to sweep their way to the Eastern Conference championship.

It is unclear how and when Robinson was injured, per the reports.

The main backup to six-time All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns, Robinson is averaging 5.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 14.2 minutes per game while shooting a league-leading 73.7% from the field (28 of 38) in 13 playoff games as a reserve. He also has made only 13 of 43 free-throw attempts (30.2%).

During the regular season, Robinson averaged 5.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 19.6 minutes in 60 games (16 starts) and finished eighth in voting for NBA Sixth Man of the Year.

New York’s third-string center is second-year player Ariel Hukporti, a 7-footer who played in 54 regular-season games (five starts) and averaged 2.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 9.2 minutes.

For his career, Robinson averages 7.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 23.4 minutes in 397 regular-season games (215 starts).

The longest-tenured Knicks player, Robinson was selected by New York in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft out of Western Kentucky.

–Field Level Media

The Minnesota Lynx and the Chicago Sky are getting to know each other quite well during the early part of the season.

They will meet for the third time in 13 days when they face off Friday night in Chicago. The Sky (3-4) won the first meeting 86-79 on May 17 in Minneapolis. The Lynx (5-2) won the most recent meeting 85-75 last Saturday in Chicago.

The last meeting was the middle game of Minnesota’s current three-game winning streak and Chicago’s three-game losing streak.

“I think we’ve grown a lot in a short period of time,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said. “I think we’re on the right path.”

The Lynx, who are coming off a 96-81 home victory against the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday, have been one of the best defensive teams in the league. They rank fourth in scoring defense (82.1), first in field-goal defense (39.8) and second in 3-point defense (28.6).

“I think overall defensively as a team we’re good,” Reeve said. “I think our starters are great and we’re still trying to bring along (backups) and find ways to get a full team effort in that area. We’re going to keep working on that.”

The Sky need to work on their defense. They’re mostly in the middle of the pack – 11th in scoring defense (87.3), seventh in field-goal defense (43.0) and eighth in 3-point defense (33.5).

They are coming off a 111-104 loss to visiting Toronto on Wednesday as they prepare to conclude a four-game homestand.

“We’ve got to be better on the defensive end,” said rookie guard Sydney Taylor, who scored a season-high 27 points off the bench for Chicago.

Skylar Diggins had 23 points and nine assists, and Natasha Cloud added 18 points and nine assists. But the Sky couldn’t match Toronto’s scoring pace.

“It’s just seven games so we’re not panicking,” Sky coach Tyler Marsh said. “But we understand the level of urgency that’s needed. We’ve got to get better on the defensive side of the ball.”

The winner of this game will win the season series because these teams don’t meet again.

–Field Level Media