When Spark faced Phoenix Mercury last month, the game ended with a failed Spark comeback.

There is another comeback on Sunday - belonging to Phoenix.

After establishing an 18-point lead, Sparks lost for the third straight, down 85-80 in Mercury at Crypto.com Arena.

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The third quarter proved to be the extinction of sparks again. After only seven points in the third quarter of the loss to Phoenix on May 21, Sparks led 24-9 in the third quarter on Sunday.

Read more: Sparks can't stop A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum from returning to A'ja Wilson and Aces in Las Vegas

Prior to the game, Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said transitional defense consistency, avoiding long periods of poor stretching and fluid ball movements would define a strong third quarter. None of these targets Phoenix.

After the season's best first quarter opening, the Sparks quickly became apparently frustrated in the second half. The 3-pointer from Kathryn Westbeld took the first lead, 58-57 with 2:11 left in the third inning, and ended the lead with a 21-5 record.

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The energy transformation is evident in turning into a weird physics game. Later in the third quarter, Phoenix's momentum was supported late in the third quarter when it was fouled by Kelsey Plum on a layup.

Sable was Mercury's leading scorer with 24 points. She has 9 rebounds.

The team traded early in the fourth quarter. Plum has 25 seconds left, and while trying to pass it to an open shooter, Plum is behind 25 seconds. Then, Kitija Laksa, who was fouled by the plum, made two free throws, making it a four-pointer.

Plum blossoms scored 13-1 in the second half, scoring 15 points and 6 rebounds.

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In the first quarter, Sparks are a different team, second only to Julie Allemand, Dearica Hamby, Azurá Stevens, Odyssey Sims, Plum's new starting lineup. They scored 27 points and scored a 10-point lead in the second quarter. After struggling all season, the team finally found the early rhythms – they showed up in the flash, but didn’t last.

Sims (one of Sparks' most intense competitors) stood at 5-foot-8 and helped the team get into the game, scoring the highest score of 32 points.

She ruthlessly attacked the basket, giving Mercury guard Sami Whitcomb "the gestures in the process are too small." She hit the floor several times on her hard drive, fought through contact and fell into the Mercury defender's face to face the foul call with them. Sometimes, her efforts showed a slight lim foot, as she encountered a slight lim between matches.

Despite the huge effort, this is not enough to win a much-needed victory, which will play eight of the next 11 games.

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The story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.