Sparks lose at home.

The Mercury scored 36 points in the third quarter to blow open the game against the Sparks and they eventually won it 104-89 at Staples Center.

Phoenix (8-4) spoiled the return of Candace Parker, who played for the first time this season after returning from maternity leave. Parker didn't start the game but had six points, four rebounds and two assists in her return.

Parker came in for the first time with a little more than five minutes left in the first quarter and looked a little rusty and was used as a decoy frequently. She scored her first two points from the free throw line. Sparks coach Michael Cooper played her sparingly in her return and she played a little more than 20 minutes in the game.

Betty Lennox and Tina Thompson both had 17 points for the Sparks (3-6) while Delisha Milton-Jones added 15 and Marie Ferdinand-Harris scored 13.

The game was close in the first half - with several of the high scoring Mercury in foul trouble - but Phoenix made adjustments in the third quarter and ran away with it with scoring outbursts by Diana Taurasi (who finished with 20 points) and Cappie Ponndexter, who had 21.

Thompson, Ferdinand-Harris and Milton-Jones are shouldering the load for the Sparks as Parker returns to form and Lisa Leslie continues to sit out due to a knee injury. Leslie should be returning to the lineup around the All-Star Game which is in late July.