Mystics vs Sparks final score: Atkins and Charles lead Washington to a 89-71 win over Los Angeles

This was the Washington Mystics’ game from start to finish as they won each and every quarter over the Los Angeles Sparks. Mystics came out giving that razzle dazzle and lockdown defense as they defeated the Sparks 89-71.

Washington seems to be coming back to life as they win their second consecutive game. Their all-around ball movement making sure each player touched the ball came in handy especially behind the three-point line as the Mystics made 11 three-pointers, the most coming from Ariel Atkins and Theresa Plaisance with three a piece.

Speaking of Atkins, she’s who got the Mystics rolling early as she scored two back-to-back three-pointers to start off the first quarter pushing Washington’s lead. Atkins finished with a game-high 23 points, five rebounds and three assists and even added two steals. She managed to get to the line as well as she knocked down six of her seven attempts.

Tina Charles got in on the action with 20 points of her own finishing with a double-double adding 10 rebounds. This makes it now seven games this season where Charles has scored 20 points or more. She also surpassed Lisa Leslie for second on the WNBA all-time double-double list with 158 career double-doubles.

Washington’s bench even came in getting the job done as they combined for 28 points, led by Plaisance’s 11 points all scored in the fourth quarter. She started off 0 of 3 and returned in later in the game making three three-point shots plus a couple free throws to get her at 11.

Washington’s defensive effort came through as the team had four steals and five blocks on the night. Of those five blocks, four came from Plaisance whose defensive awareness was spot on. Check out one of them here.

As for the Sparks, their leading scorer was Te’a Cooper who had 11 points on 3-14 shooting. Brittney Sykes followed behind with 10 points off the bench. The Mystics held the Sparks to 34 percent shooting from three-point range and 32 percent overall.

This was one of the better games played by the Mystics and was needed to get the momentum going. They’re now on a two-game winning streak. Washington will now head on the road to Atlanta to face the Dream on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. on NBA TV.

This game will be included in the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup, so the Mystics need to take this one as they’ve only won one of their Cup games out of the four played.