Up next for Sparks: Friday at Phoenix

AT PHOENIX

Time: 7 PDT.

Where: US Airways Center.

On the air: Webcast, wnba.com.

Records: Sparks 1-3, Mercury 4-1.

Record vs. Mercury (2008): 2-2.

Update: After the Sparks went 0-3 on last week’s trip, Coach Michael Cooper has focused this week’s practices on more defensive drills in hopes that it will jump-start a stagnant offense that ranks last in the league (66.75 points a game). “It’s only early in the season, but we’ve got to come out and play,” Cooper said. That won’t be easy against a team that has the top offense in the country (94.2 points a game). The Mercury has five players who average double digits: guards Diana Taurasi (a league-best 23.2 points) and Cappie Pondexter (18.4), rookie reserve DeWanna Bonner (14.4), center Tangela Smith (12.2) and forward Le’coe Willingham (10.0).

-- Mark Medina