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, theyre 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, theyre really, really difficult to beat. I think theyve played with renewed energy and a chip on their shoulder, and thats helped them be in the position theyre 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.Theres 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 thats not realistic.So lets 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 Tuesdays game.The first time they met, the Lynxs 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 Tolivers 20 points -- the Sparks werent 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 Tolivers 3-point shooting opens up the floor so much for the Sparks, and shes shooting 45 percent from behind the arc this season.While were 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, youll see the best of the league in what could be a preview of the WNBA Finals. Its the kind of game that should whet everyones appetite for the playoffs. Custom Yankees Jerseys . At a Manhattan federal court hearing, attorney Jordan Siev said his law office has gotten more evidence nearly every day to support its lawsuit accusing MLB and Selig of going on a "witch hunt" to ruin Rodriguezs reputation and career. He said the defendants went "way over the line. Custom Yankees Jersey China . The 26-year-old Ireland striker, who has four goals this season, has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with his new club. http://www.customyankeesjersey.com/ . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. Custom Yankees T-shirts . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. Authentic Custom Yankees Jersey . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. DreamHack Bucharest kicked off Friday with the initial matches of the group stages for the $100,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. While the proceedings went pretty much accordingly to plan, there were still some surprises and excitement interlaced in there.The day kicked off with Virtus.pro starting its campaign to regain a bit of the swagger it seemed to have lost following the conclusion of their ELeague Season 1 championship win. The first game against Gambit eSports in the opening match of the tournament didnt do much to show the world that it was back, though. Since Gambit eSports is a team that hasnt placed above fifth-eighth at a major tournament this year, one would think that the defending ELeague champions would have done a bit better than a close 16-12 win. Still, a wins a win, as Virtus.pro will move onto the winners match of Group A. Gambit eSports will have to try its luck in the losers bracket Saturday.Sticking with Group A, next up was Heroic and Team EnVyUs in what ended up being one of the longest professional Counter Strike: Global Offensive games ever. It was an extremely back and forth affair that ended up going to a whopping six overtimes before Heroic were able to outlast Team EnVyUs and get the 34-31 win. Team EnVyUs will now take on Gambit eSports in the Group A losers match on Saturday.Virtus.pro, having had a few hours to rest up before the winners match of Group A, certainly benefited from its oppositions lengthy match as Heroic looked to be completely exhausted against Virtus.pro, falling to the ELeague Champions in a well-polished and crisp 16-6 win. With the win, Virtus.pro has now locked up its semifinal spot for this Sunday. Heroic will now have one last shot too get to the semifinals when they face the winner of the Group A losers match between Team EnVyUs and Gambit on Saturday.dddddddddddd.Group B, by comparison, was fairly straightforward. Cloud9 continued its extremely strong run of play lately with a convincing 16-4 win over FlipSid3 Tactics to open up the day in the group. Jake Stewie2k Yip continues to impress and put up a 24/12 KD in the game to propel his team to victory.The second match of the group was a bit more competitive, if not still wholly predictable. FaZe Clan, who are currently blazing the trails over in the EU ESL Pro League, took on Team Diginitas in their initial match. H?vard rain Nygaard led the charge for FaZe Clan in the 16-11 win with his stellar 34/18 KD. While FaZe Clan will now move on to the winners match of Group B, Team Dignitas will be left to battle through the losers bracket on Saturday.The two favorites to make it out of the group, FaZe Clan and Cloud9, faced off in the winners match of Group B. Stewie2k once again posted a game-high record in kills to get Cloud9 rolling with a 16-8 win. With the win, Cloud9 has secured its place in the semifinals this Sunday. FaZe Clan, on the other hand, will await the winner of the Team Dignitas vs. FlipSid3 Tactics match for its final shot at making it to the playoffs by way of the Group B decider match.Day 2 will signal the switch to the best-of-three format for the remainder of the tournament, with the first losers matches of both groups up at the start. The action will kick off with Gambit eSports taking on Team EnVyUs at 3:20am EST on Saturday, September 17. ' ' '