Sparks' playoff hopes and Mercury's seed dreams collide

The Phoenix Mercury have locked up home-court advantage in the first round of the WNBA playoffs, but they are looking for more.

They will play for the small possibility of a higher seed when they host the Los Angeles Sparks in the penultimate game of the regular season for both on Tuesday in Phoenix.

The Sparks are fighting to keep their slim postseason hopes alive.

The Mercury (27-15) must win their final two and get help in order to improve their No. 4 seed, a landing spot that seems all but certain.

Phoenix, led by MVP candidate Alyssa Thomas, lost its tiny chance for the No. 2 seed when the Atlanta Dream (29-14) beat the Connecticut Sun 87-62 on Monday night. The Mercury can reach No. 3 only if they win out and the Las Vegas Aces (28-14) lose their final two. The Aces hold the tiebreaker after winning the season series.

Phoenix had a six-game winning streak broken in an 87-84 loss Saturday at Connecticut.

"That level's not good enough," Mercury 3-point specialist Sami Whitcomb said after Phoenix lost a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter. "We're better than that, we know that.

"There's not a switch you can flip. It's about just really locking in for these last few games."

The ninth-place Sparks (20-22) are in a win-or-go-home mode. They must win their final two games -- against Phoenix and Las Vegas -- and need Seattle (22-21) to lose Tuesday at home against Golden State to claim the eighth and final playoff spot.

The Sparks, who have lost all three to the Mercury by a total of 16 points, hold the tiebreaker over the Storm.

Los Angeles has won three of five after beating Dallas 91-77 on Sunday. Sparks guard Julie Allemand made league history by becoming the first player to score at least 20 points and have five steals without missing a shot.

Allemand scored 21 points while going 8 of 8 from the floor, 3 of 3 from long distance and 2 of 2 from the foul line. She also had four assists with no turnovers.

"I don't care about shooting most of the time," said the 5-foot-8 Belgian. "I'm just trying to read the game every time. I had more (scoring chances) than usual, so I took it, and it was in."

Thomas, vying with Minnesota's Napheesa Collier and Las Vegas' A'ja Wilson for MVP, broke Caitlin Clark's single-season assist record when she had 10 against Connecticut to give her 342.

"It's been a great change for me this year with a new offense that just allows me to go out there and make the reads that I need to make," said Thomas, who is in her first season in Phoenix after 11 years with the Sun. "I hit the open person, and the rest is on them to hit the shot. Credit to them they have my back like that."

--Field Level Media