Sparks, Lynx bring out best in each other

Eight and a half months have passed since Nneka Ogwumike's follow shot after a Sylvia Fowles block gave the Sparks a 77-76 victory over the Lynx and the 2016 WNBA championship. That Game 5 ended a WNBA Finals that, in terms of star power and down-to-the-wire finishes, was the best in league history.

These teams haven't met since, but the wait for the rematch is over: The Lynx and Sparks face off Thursday (ESPN2, 8 p.m. ET).

"As a competitor, you love games like this," Minnesota forward Maya Moore said. "There's just a lot of energy around the matchup and the history makes it that much more fun of a game."

This time it will be at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Lynx's home this summer as Target Center in downtown Minneapolis is undergoing renovations. The Sparks quieted the Target Center crowd with their victory last Oct. 20, keeping the Lynx from repeating and winning their fourth title overall.

Where are both teams now? Pretty much the same place they left off: They're the best in the WNBA. The Lynx enter the game at 12-1, their lone loss 98-93 to visiting Connecticut on June 17. The Sparks are 12-3; they had road losses at Indiana, Atlanta and Dallas in a stretch between May 24-June 9. But now both Minnesota and Los Angeles are 9-1 in their past 10 games.

Both are coming off victories that had a degree of "statement" to them. Minnesota won by eight at Phoenix last Friday, a place that isn't easy to win and in a game that had a lot of edge to it that the Lynx didn't back down from at all. Meanwhile, the Sparks rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit Sunday against visiting Washington, winning by seven as they showed they could regroup and put on a very strong second-half show.

The Sparks lead the league in offensive rating by a smidge -- 110.9 to 110.6 -- over the Lynx. Minnesota leads in defensive rating, 96.0 to Los Angeles' 100.9. Sounding a lot like last season, right?

Yes, but there are differences, especially for the Sparks. They have had more personnel changes, particularly with the departure of starting point guard Kristi Toliver to Washington and some different faces on the bench.

"I had a better feel for our team a year ago at this moment [in the season] than I have with our team this year," Sparks coach Brian Agler said. "I'm trying to get a great feel for who can do what, and so I think our team is still evolving. I don't think we're close to our best; I don't know what our best is."

One thing that has become clear, though, is point guard Chelsea Gray's ascension, which has helped the Sparks fill in Toliver's absence. Gray started to elevate her play late last season, carried it into the playoffs, and has continued that in 2017.

Gray is averaging twice as many minutes -- 32.6 -- as a starter this year than as a reserve her first two seasons in the WNBA. And her 16.2 scoring average and 4.3 assists per game reflect her greater opportunity on court. Gray has overcome the knee injuries that plagued the end of her college career at Duke and seems on her way to being the pro that many people were hoping to see.

"She can score multiple ways, and she's improving defensively," Agler said.

Sparks veteran Candace Parker added, "I think she is in that conversation of being one of the best guards in the league. I'm really proud of her and how she's handled everything. As well as it's fun to be a part of her growth."

It's also fun to see this rivalry play out on court again. What happens Thursday won't decide the 2017 championship, of course. Same for the two other Lynx-Sparks games coming up: Aug. 11 in St. Paul again, and Aug. 27 in Los Angeles.

But these outcomes might well be important for playoff position and home-court advantage in the postseason. Even more big-picture, regular-season WNBA games that clearly have a "buzz factor" to them -- last week's aforementioned Lynx-Mercury game was another example -- are an essential part of the league's growth.

"We get excited and play our best against Minnesota and they do against us," said Parker, who is averaging 17.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists. "There's a lot of emotion going in."

There are three former WNBA MVPs between the two rosters, with Parker (2008, '13), Moore (2014) and Ogwumike, who won the award last season and currently leads the Sparks at 19.4 PPG. But Fowles now looks to be the front-runner for the 2017 MVP.

She was named the Western Conference player of the month for both May and June. Fowles is averaging 20.7 points, while shooting 66 percent from the field and 79.7 from the foul line; all three are career highs. Add in 10.1 rebounds per game and 1.7 blocks, and Fowles is basically doing everything that coach Cheryl Reeve could ask.

Which is making Minnesota's prodigious talent at every other spot even more dangerous. Reeve wanted better 3-point shooting this season, both to help open up things for Fowles inside and maximize the team's offensive potential. The Lynx averaged 4.0 made treys per game last year, but are at 6.4 through 13 games this season.

"We want to just keep getting better and better at it as we see different types of coverages," Reeve said of the inside-out game. "We want to make sure we hang on to our emphasis of getting up enough 3s and continuing down that path."

Moore (16.4 PPG) leads the Lynx with 29 3-pointers, but fellow starters Seimone Augustus (11), Rebekkah Brunson (10) and Lindsay Whalen (10) are hitting from long range as well. It's a revelation to see that from the forward Brunson, who had just two total in her previous 13 WNBA seasons. It's a return to a previous strength for Whalen. She had just 11 3-pointers in the last four seasons after totaling 156 during her first nine years in the league.

This shows how committed to the system these Lynx veterans have been under Reeve; they have bought in on whatever they've been asked to do. It's a big reason why they've made the WNBA Finals five of the past six years.

"They have, over a long, long period of time, been extremely consistent at a very high level," Agler said of the Lynx. "I attribute that to that core group of players ... and hiring Cheryl. She brought in a level of high expectation, consistency and demanding. And you've seen the results.

"With us, there's been a good solid core here, but getting people healthy and playing together longer [helped]. I think we can be very competitive, but we have room for a lot of growth. Last year, we got off to a really great start and just sort of rode that momentum. I don't think we're there yet this year; I think we can be. I think Minnesota definitely is, and in a lot of ways they've added to how they play."