Sparks to host Lynx as WNBA leaders meet for final time in regular season

In some ways, the Los Angeles Sparks and Minnesota Lynx will meet as identical twins for their final matchup of the regular season.

The top two teams in the WNBA have the same record: 24-5. Both have won their last three games in a row. Minnesota is outscoring its opponents by an average of 9.6 points per game, Los Angeles by 8.8. The Sparks average 21 assists per game, the Lynx 20. Both teams get 8.2 steals per game.

The Lynx have an edge on rebounding, 35.9 to 31.8, while the Sparks have it in field goal percentage, 49.5 to 47.2. Los Angeles averages 14.0 turnovers, Minnesota 13.7.

Two teams with a lot in common, right? Well, yes and no.

Minnesota has played in the WNBA Finals four of the past five years and won three times. Los Angeles' last appearance in the WNBA Finals was 13 years ago. The Lynx have a core group that has become accustomed to crossing the finish line first, or at least being in the mix to win the race. The Sparks have been on a mission in 2016 to prove they are every bit as much in the hunt.

Now we come to the Lynx visiting the Sparks on Tuesday (ESPN2, 10 p.m. ET) for what might give one team the upper hand for the postseason. Whoever wins takes first place for at least a few days.

After Tuesday, the Sparks have four games left, three at Staples Center. Two of those are against teams jockeying for playoff position, Atlanta and Phoenix, and the other is against last-place San Antonio. The road game is at Seattle, which is making a playoff surge.

The Sparks fell at Seattle, 79-72, on Aug. 26 in their first game back after the Olympic break. They also lost their next game, 70-66 at Phoenix. But Los Angeles got back to business with victories at San Antonio and Dallas. And while those are the two worst teams in the league, they both are still capable of putting a scare into top teams. So it was critical that Los Angeles win both those games, and the Sparks did.

Then their nine-consecutive-road-games odyssey finally ended, and they played at home again Sunday for the first time since July 10, beating Indiana 88-81.

Indiana coach Stephanie White, whose Fever went to five games in the WNBA Finals with Minnesota last season, was asked about the toughest part of playing both the Lynx and the Sparks this season.

"With Minnesota, they're just so balanced on both ends of the floor," White said. "They have all these Olympians, but their skills are different and you have to guard all five positions. Defensively, they are on point individually and as a team.

"L.A. is incredibly gifted on the offensive end of the floor; they have tremendous size, length and versatility. And when they play at a high level on the defensive end of the floor, they're really, really difficult to beat. I think they've played with renewed energy and a chip on their shoulder, and that's helped them be in the position they're in."

The monthlong Olympic break made the Sparks' absence from playing at home even more absurdly long, but they now can look at the bright side of it: They will be spending a lot of time at home over the next few weeks.

The Sparks have lost just one game at Staples this season: 72-69 on June 21 to Minnesota. Los Angeles avenged that loss on June 24 with a 94-76 victory in Minneapolis.

Such are the oddities of the WNBA schedule sometimes. Despite being in the same conference, the Sparks and Lynx play each other just three times during this regular season. They did so twice in four-day span in June, and then not again for nearly 2 months.

The Lynx sent four players and coach Cheryl Reeve to the Summer Olympics. And after a hiccup upon returning -- an 84-80 loss at Connecticut in the first game back after the Rio de Janeiro Games -- Minnesota has defeated Seattle, Washington and Connecticut at home at Target Center.

The Lynx play four of their last five games on the road. The home game is the regular-season finale against Atlanta on Sept. 17. Before that are trips to San Antonio, Chicago and Indiana, with the latter two being playoff-contending teams.

There's still the remote chance that if either Los Angeles or Minnesota lost all its remaining games and New York won all five it has left, the Liberty could grab one of the top two spots. But that's not realistic.

So let's just go ahead and say it: The Sparks and the Lynx will be the teams with byes to the best-of-five semifinals. Which means after they finish their regular seasons, they will be waiting and watching for a while as the new single-elimination part of the postseason plays out.

So it seems imperative to the Sparks and Lynx to finish on a strong note, and both seem likely to do that. Which puts all the more emphasis on Tuesday's game.

The first time they met, the Lynx's depth and bench was the story; they got 26 points from their reserves on a day when star Maya Moore was held to eight. Sparks standouts Nneka Ogwumike and Candace Parker were each limited to nine points that day, and -- despite Kristi Toliver's 20 points -- the Sparks weren't able to make up for that.

The second game, Moore was her normal self -- 28 points -- but the Sparks got more from Ogwumike (20 points) and Parker (14), plus had another big game from Toliver (25). And, in contrast to the first game, when Minnesota dominated the boards 42-29, the rebounding battle was essentially even the second time around, 29-28 Sparks.

In this third meeting, you know the Lynx will try to make things difficult for Toliver. Not just because she was so effective in both previous meetings with Minnesota, but because she is such a key to the Sparks.

Ogwumike, with her 69.6 field goal percentage, and Parker, with her scoring-rebounding-assists triple-threat power, are the MVP candidates. But Toliver's 3-point shooting opens up the floor so much for the Sparks, and she's shooting 45 percent from behind the arc this season.

While we're mentioning MVP candidates, though, we have to give a shout-out to Moore, who has been in the category basically her entire WNBA career. She won the MVP honor in 2014, and is in the race again this year, averaging 19.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists.

So Tuesday, you'll see the best of the league in what could be a preview of the WNBA Finals. It's the kind of game that should whet everyone's appetite for the playoffs.