The Los Angeles Sparks pulled off a gutsy overtime win against the Atlanta Dream, 93-85, to extend their winning streak to six games. Trailing 79-75 with 1:11 remaining in the game, the Sparks were able to tie the game at 79-79. After Courtney Williams hit a jumper to give the Dream an 81-79 lead with 3.7 seconds remaining, Candace Parker scored on a drive as time expired to force overtime, where Chelsea Gray took over as the Sparks pulled away. Gray finished with 20 points and Parker added 17 points and 9 rebounds.

“When you find yourself in situations where you have to be disciplined in order to get the job done, we’re able to rise to that challenge,” said Head Coach Derek Fisher after the win.

Tonight’s victory was a full-team effort with all five starters scoring in double figures; Chelsea Gray (20), Candace Parker (17), Sydney Wiese (15), Nneka Ogwumike (14), and Brittney Sykes (12). As a team, the Sparks shot 45.5% from the field and 44.4% from 3-point range.

The Sparks got off to a slow start going down 8-0 within the first minutes of the game. The start didn’t last long, as the Sparks went on a 13-4 run to take their first lead of the game halfway through the first quarter. Los Angeles ended the first quarter on top 25-17, with Sydney Wiese’s six points leading the Sparks. Atlanta shot 58.3% from the field in the first quarter keeping them in the game despite the Sparks run.

Good ball movement at the start of the second quarter led to a wide-open jumper by Seimone Augustus and gave the Sparks their biggest lead of 10 points. Los Angeles’ bench scored 14 points in the first half as nine Sparks players scored. The Dream kept it a close game, shooting 44.4% from 3-point range throughout the second quarter. A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Betnijah Laney made it 40-35 Sparks at the half.

After the Sparks opened up an 11-point lead in the third quarter, Atlanta made a comeback late into the third. Glory Johnson made back-to-back shots to bring the Dream to within one with under a minute left. The Sparks were unable to hold the Dream from the lead as a Shekinna Stricklen 3-pointer gave Atlanta a 58-56 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Glory Johnson continued to hurt the Sparks as she’d finish with 23 points off the bench as the teams went back and forth in the fourth quarter, setting up the exciting finish. Nneka Ogwumike sank three crucial free throws to tie the game at 79-79 before Williams’ shot gave Atlanta the 81-79 lead. Candace Parker perfectly executed the play Coach Fisher drew up as time expired and sent the game into overtime.

“That’s the type of adversity that we’re going to see when we’re trying to win the championship and when we get to those playoffs, like I said before, we have to handle every single game one at a time and we have to take care of business like we did today,” said Brittney Sykes after the game.

Overtime was the Chelsea Gray show. After Atlanta scored first, Gray hit back-to-back 3-pointers before Parker hit a transition layup to put the Sparks up 89-83. Defensive plays from Brittney Sykes and Candace Parker, who drew a key charge, helped maintain the Sparks lead and the Dream would never recover.

“In overtime, of course, [the team] put together a great series of defensive possessions that they should all be proud of and that’s usually what it takes in order to win and I’m glad we got a chance to have this kind of experience,” said Fisher.

The Atlanta Dream had four players score in double digits, including Glory Johnson’s 23 points, Shekinna Stricklen and Courtney Williams both with 16, and Betnijah Laney with 15. The team shot 48.5% from the field, but had a costly 29 turnovers.

The Los Angeles Sparks improved to 9-3 on the season and are now tied for second in the standings. The team will look to extend their current six-game winning streak on Sunday, Aug. 23 at 3 p.m. PT against the Dallas Wings on Spectrum Sportsnet and Facebook Watch.