LOS ANGELES (AP) - Candace Parker scored 20 points, Nneka Ogwumike added 14 points and 10 rebounds and the Los Angeles Sparks wrapped up the No. 3 seed with a 102-68 victory over the Seattle Storm on Thursday night.
Chicago and Las Vegas can still tie the Sparks (21-12), but Los Angeles holds the tiebreaker with both teams.
The defending champion Storm (17-16) dropped a half-game below Minnesota, but they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against their first-round opponent. With some help from the Lynx, Seattle can still regain the No. 6 seed and host the one-game opening round.
Los Angeles took the lead for good when Sydney Wiese’s 3-pointer made it 18-15 with 2:11 in the first quarter. The Sparks closed the first half on a 10-0 run to lead 50-35 and led by double digits the rest of the way.
The 34-point victory tied for the second-largest margin in Sparks history.
Jewell Loyd and Alysha Clark both reached 200 career 3-pointers for Seattle, the only WNBA players to achieve the milestone in the same game.
DREAM 78, ACES 74
ATLANTA (AP) - Elizabeth Williams had 20 points, eight rebounds and a career-high eight blocks in Atlanta’s victory over Las Vegas.
The Dream (8-25) took their first lead at 63-62 on Marie Gulich’s layup with 5:10 left. Renee Montgomery’s 3-pointer made it 68-62 and capped a 9-0 run for Atlanta. A’Ja Wilson made a pair of free throws to pull the Aces (20-12) to 76-74 with 23 seconds left, but Alex Bentley answered with a pair of free throws four seconds later and Las Vegas missed its final three shots.
Wilson led Las Vegas with 19 points.
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