Los Angeles couldn't put away the WNBA's defending champions in their most recent game, costing the Sparks a win in their home opener.

They're hoping to have better luck against the defending Eastern Conference champions.

One game after blowing a big lead late, the Sparks will again look for their first win at Staples Center this year on Wednesday night against the Detroit Shock.

Los Angeles (4-2) led Phoenix by 18 in the fourth quarter on Friday during the home debut of No. 1 overall draft pick Candace Parker. But the Mercury closed the game on a 32-8 run, and Parker scored only two points in the fourth as the Sparks lost 85-79.

"It's been a problem for us the last couple games," said Parker, who finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds. "When they went on that run we were back on our heels. (They) wanted it more.''

Despite the loss, Parker certainly has impressed in her first six professional games. She leads the league with 11.2 rebounds per game, just ahead of teammate Lisa Leslie's 10.5, and Parker is ninth in scoring (18.0) and is fourth in assists (5.7).

The Sparks are among the league leaders with 80.2 points per game, but they've given up at least 80 in three of their games and both of their losses.

Los Angeles also will have to deal with one of the WNBA's hottest scorers on Wednesday. Detroit's Katie Smith was named the Eastern Conference player of the week on Monday after averaging 27.0 points in her last three games.

The six-time All-Star leads the Shock (7-2) with 16.8 points per game. But after scoring 30 earlier in the week to help Detroit run its winning streak to six games, Smith went cold on Saturday. She scored 18 points on 6-for-18 shooting, part of a 34.3 percent effort from the Shock in their 75-67 loss at Seattle.

"We didn't make a lot of shots early and got off to a slow start,'' Smith said. "We dug ourselves a hole and hung around that six, seven to 10- to 12-point margin and couldn't quite get over the hump.''

Detroit will likely need a better effort from Deanna Nolan in order to beat the Sparks. Nolan, a four-time All-Star, is averaging 13.4 points, but scored just five on 2-of-15 from the floor against Seattle, and is shooting 32.3 percent (20-for-62) in her last four games.

The Shock have beaten the Sparks three straight times.