It’s a battle of WNBA basement dwellers in D.C. when the Los Angeles Sparks take on the Washington Mystics on Friday night. Both sides have also been bitten hard by the injury bug this season, most recently the Sparks, who are missing multiple starters in the second half of the schedule. That’s a big reason why the Mystics are favorites for just the second time all season.

Dearica Hamby is having trouble finding her form after the Olympic break, stumbling out of the blocks in the second half of the season. The Los Angeles Sparks forward is averaging less than 11 points over the last four games despite a season-long clip of 18 points an outing. Hamby has blown off this slump as just a “few off games”, but while her scoring touch is missing, her nose for the ball isn’t.

The Sparks’ 6-foot-3 forward has still been big on the boards, bringing down nine, 10, 11, and 13 rebounds in those four contests. She’ll have a chance to dominate the glass again tonight versus a shorthanded Washington Mystics team that could be down starting center Shakira Austin, who’s questionable due to illness. Player projections for Hamby call for as many as 10.5 rebounds before making any adjustments for Washington’s missing pieces. The Mystics allow the fifth most rebounds per game to opponents, and Hamby has already had efforts of 11 and 18 boards against L.A. earlier this season.

Her rebounding prop is at 9.5 Over/Under, with the price on the Over spiking due to action. However, you can still find EVEN money being offered on Over 9.5 rebounds as of 11 a.m. ET on Friday morning.

Hamby continues to control the glass and may have the paint all to herself tonight, with Austin coming down with an illness. Stefanie Dolson steps into more touches if Austin is out. Her projections were flirting with 10 points before Austin’s status was downgraded to questionable, and she’s also a threat from outside.

Los Angeles is missing a ton of talent, especially in the backcourt, so the offense will be all over the place. Washington isn’t packing much of punch either, as these teams ranked 10th and 11th in offensive rating.

• Bookies opened Washington as a 3.5-point home favorite, which is just the second time all season the Mystics have been laying points.

• That spread jumped to as high as -6 with L.A. again missing key players, but sunk to -4.5 when Austin was listed as questionable with an illness Friday morning.

• The Over/Under total hit the board at 161.5 points and climbed to 164 O/U before slimming to 162.5 points after Austin’s status update.

Los Angeles has gone 0-3-1 O/U in its last four games since returning from the Olympic break.

Sparks: Layshia Clarendon G (Questionable), Aari McDonald G (Questionable), Lexie Brown G (Out), Cameron Brink C (Out).

Mystics: Shakira Austin C (Questionable), Karlie Samuelson G (Out).

The Los Angeles Sparks (6-22, 4-11 Western Conference) at Washington Mystics (6-22, 3-10 Eastern Conference)

Washington; Friday, 7:30 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Washington Mystics looks to end its five-game skid when the Mystics take on Los Angeles Sparks.

The Mystics are 3-11 on their home court. Washington ranks third in the WNBA with 22.0 assists per game. Julie Vanloo leads the Mystics averaging 5.0.

The Sparks are 2-12 on the road. Los Angeles averages 15.1 turnovers per game and is 2- when committing fewer turnovers than opponents.

Washington scores 79.0 points per game, 6.6 fewer points than the 85.6 Los Angeles gives up. Los Angeles' 42.0% shooting percentage from the field this season is 3.8 percentage points lower than Washington has given up to its opponents (45.8%).

The teams square off for the third time this season. The Mystics won 82-80 in the last meeting on July 3. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough led the Mystics with 17 points, and Stephanie Talbot led the Sparks with 17 points.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ariel Atkins is averaging 15.8 points, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals for the Mystics.

Dearica Hamby is scoring 18.0 points per game and averaging 10.1 rebounds for the Sparks.

LAST 10 GAMES: Mystics: 2-8, averaging 78.4 points, 31.4 rebounds, 22.4 assists, 7.2 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 42.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 87.0 points per game.

Sparks: 2-8, averaging 77.9 points, 33.2 rebounds, 20.1 assists, 6.6 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 40.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 86.0 points.

INJURIES: Mystics: None listed.

Sparks: Julie Allemand: out for season (ankle), Cameron Brink: out for season (acl), Lexie Brown: out (illness).