Can the Sparks will their way into the playoffs?

It’s hard to overstate the promise around the Sparks when the 2025 season tipped off. Cameron Brink’s return, Kelsey Plum’s arrival — a WNBA champion and perennial All-Star — it all pointed to a revival of the championship DNA that once defined Los Angeles. But the reality was far messier. Before the All-Star break, the Sparks were plagued by disconnected play, a vague offensive identity, and poor late-game execution that let winnable games slip away.

Then, something shifted. Call it the Brink effect. Call it the benefit of a few days to regroup. Or maybe it was the frustration boiling over for All-Star-caliber talents like Plum and Dearica Hamby, determined to drag their team back into relevance. Whatever the cause, the post-break Sparks look like a different squad: rattling off a road win streak, closing tight games at home against contenders like Connecticut, even stealing one from the Liberty in New York. It’s the kind of form that makes the top eight feel suddenly within reach.

The formula to get there is simple — win quarters early. This team has shown it can claw back from bad starts, but those slow first quarters, full of turnovers and lapses on defense, can’t keep happening. With Plum settling into an off-ball role, Julie Allemand needs to keep pressing the pace and leaning on the pick-and-roll through Hamby, while capitalizing on Brink’s growing impact. Late-game execution will matter just as much: protecting possessions, getting stops, and running offense that plays to their strengths when it counts most.

If the Sparks can turn this surge into a playoff run, it would be more than just a strong finish — it would be a statement. A redemption arc for a franchise fighting to matter again in the WNBA, and maybe the first step toward putting Los Angeles back in the league’s upper tier.