The Los Angeles Sparks grabbed their first win of the 2024 WNBA season on Tuesday against the Washington Mystics in a game where both teams came into the meeting winless to that point. One of the key factors in the Sparks win was head coach Curt Miller's decision to play Lexie Brown at point guard for the duration of the fourth quarter.

Brown normally is a starter for the Sparks but at shooting guard. Layshia Clarendon has been the team's starting point guard this season. But Miller opted to roll with Brown as the team's primary playmaker and ball-handler, a role that she hasn't always been accustomed to.

In fact, following the game Miller admitted that he did not play Brown at point guard at all during training camp. While the move may have been a gamble, it paid off as the Sparks were able to rally back from a deficit to surge ahead and pull off the win.

“When we take out Layshia, we slide Lexie from the two to the one. We had success with it despite the loss against Vegas, so we wanted to re-look at it,” Curt Miller said. “When we can get out in transition, I really like Lexie at the point. She hasn't run point guard not one second of training camp, so running late game situations, execution, when we get slowed down in the halfcourt is a work in progress. . .but really credit Lexie.”

Lexie Brown was playing at an All-Star level before being sidelined last season

Lexie Brown is in her third year with the Sparks after arriving in a trade with the Chicago Sky ahead of the 2022 season. She ultimately had to make the Sparks roster out of training camp that year but has since become one of the team's top backcourt options.

The No. 9 overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft, Brown began her career with the Connecticut Sun. She spent one season with the Sun while playing sparingly before the team traded her to the Minnesota Lynx. Brown played well for the Lynx but ended being cut following the 2021 season. She was a part of the Sky's 2021 championship team albeit in another small role>

But Brown has seemingly found a home and a consistent role with the Sparks. She was limited to only 12 games for the Sparks last season while being sidelined for most of the year due to illness. She was ultimately diagnosed with Crohn's disease. But this year she's picked up where she left off, once again playing at a near All-Star level.

Through the Sparks first three games, Brown has playing a career-high 35 minutes per game. Against the Mystics she played all 40 minutes. She's been averaging a 14.7 points, 1.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.3 steals with splits of 39.5 percent shooting from the field, 40 percent shooting from the three-point line and 80 percent from the free-throw line.

Against the Mystics, she had a game-high 20 points to go along with two rebounds, six assists and two steals. Brown has always been a decent playmaker and ball-handler, but to start this season she's gotten extended reps at running the point. It's a role and a challenge that she's looking forward to.

“I think last season I was one of our better playmakers behind Jordin [Canada], especially in the pick-and-roll. And when I have teammates like I have, that makes my job easy,” Brown said. “In the offseason I just worked a lot on my handle. I know I'm going to get trapped a lot, I know I get a lot of elite defenders every night, so I had to go in the lab and work on some stuff. Having that trust from him [Miller] means a lot to me.”

Brown did have seven turnovers though against the Mystics compared to her six assists so it's still an early work in progress. But the Sparks may have found an effective lineup moving Brown to the one and Rickea Jackson coming in at small forward to go along with Kia Nurse, Dearica Hamby and Cameron Brink.