The visiting Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks will clash again Tuesday in the third meeting over a 10-day span between the clubs.
Minnesota (3-8) scored a pair of five-point victories against Los Angeles with a 91-86 victory June 11 in Minneapolis, and a 77-72 decision on Friday in Los Angeles to open the ongoing three-game road swing.
The Lynx received 24 points from Napheesa Collier and outscored the Sparks 29-22 in the fourth quarter of the former win. In the latter, Collier went for 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
Collier again was the leading scorer for Minnesota on Sunday at the Las Vegas Aces, but her 18 points in a 93-62 rout underscored an area of concern for the Lynx.
No other Minnesota scorer managed more than eight points in the loss. For the season, four Lynx players are averaging in double figures in scoring with Collier’s 20.5 points per contest – sixth-highest in the WNBA — leading the way.
Los Angeles (5-6) sandwiched a 79-61 victory over the Dallas Wings on June 14 between its two losses to Minnesota, part of a 1-3 stretch for the Sparks.
They dropped an 83-74 decision at home Sunday to the Connecticut Sun. Much like the June 11 loss at Minnesota, Los Angeles was felled by a decisive fourth quarter. The Sun outpaced the Sparks 20-11 in the final period.
The “adversity” is a bevy of injuries Los Angeles has faced all season, most recently losing Layshia Clarendon last week for an estimated 4-6 weeks with a torn right plantar fascia.
Lexie Brown, who did not play on Sunday, is listed as day-to-day recovering from a non-COVID illness, while Chiney Ogwumike and Jasmine Thomas faced recent foot and knee injuries.
