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The last time the Los Angeles Sparks were in the WNBA Finals, the Minnesota Lynx were a gritty underdog that tried to stop them. That was 2003, when the Sparks were two-time defending champions and the closest thing to WNBA villains.They werent really all that villainous, but they had superstar Lisa Leslie, a tough defense, and a swagger that then-coach Michael Cooper loved.The Lynx were in the playoffs for the first time under then-coach Suzie McConnell-Serio. Katie Smith starred for Minnesota, and longtime USA Basketball great Teresa Edwards was playing in the first of her two WNBA seasons at age 39.The teams met in the conference semifinals, and the Lynx put a little scare into the Sparks before losing the series 2-1. Los Angeles went on to lose to Detroit in the WNBA Finals.No one would have guessed then that it would be 13 years before we would see the Sparks in the season-ending series again. Similarly, Minnesotas playoff appearance that year -- and again in 2004 -- were good signs for the franchise, but not indicative of an eventual dynasty.In fact, the Lynx missed the postseason every year from 2005-10 as five coaches rotated through. The fifth one, though, stuck: That was Cheryl Reeve, who got her start as an assistant and is now coach of the top franchise in the WNBA. Starting in 2011, the Lynx have reached the WNBA Finals in five of six years, with three titles.The Sparks, who have had eight coaches since 2004, some in more than one stint, have made it back to the WNBA Finals under Brian Agler, who is with his third team in the league. He led Seattle to the championship in 2010 and actually started back in 1999 with ... the Lynx.So it feels like a few things are coming full circle with these WNBA Finals.This is the first year for the WNBA playoff format in which conference affiliation did not matter; the top eight teams advanced to the postseason. That was particularly advantageous for the Sparks, who were eliminated two of the past four years from the playoffs by the Lynx.Minnesota, which had a 2-1 series edge this season over Los Angeles, is the favorite.Thats no guarantee, of course. As the favorite in recent years, Minnesota has lost in the WNBA Finals (2012) and also been pushed to five games before prevailing (2015). Indiana was the opponent both times, and although the Fever didnt have quite the star power that the Sparks do, they had one great player in Tamika Catchings and a cast that played very well around her.At this point, theres nothing the Lynx or Sparks can throw at the other that is unknown. Despite there being no surprise factor, theres still a lot of strategizing that will go on between two head coaches who know what it takes to win a championship.We look at four areas that could be key as the Lynx and Sparks compete for the 20th WNBA title.Defense! Defense! Defense!Yeah, boring old defense. Who wants to focus on that? We want to watch Maya Moore float to the basket, Lindsay Whalens shake-and-bake in the lane, and Seimone Augustus soothingly smooth jumper for the Lynx. Plus, Kristi Toliver making rainbow 3-pointers, Nneka Ogwumike outjumping everyone and then spinning around for the layup, and Candace Parker going coast-to-coast for the Sparks.All that will happen, but the series probably will be decided by which team defends the best. And these two teams can make defense pretty exciting.The Lynx have the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year in center Sylvia Fowles, who allows them to take more chances than they would if she werent there protecting the rim.Some of the Lynx players have slowed down, but Reeve and her staff have figured out how to compensate for that. It helps that the oldest player on the team, gritty forward Rebekkah Brunson, is still going strong a couple of months from turning 35. She can take care of her assignment and help elsewhere. The same can be said at the guard spot for Jia Perkins and Renee Montgomery, who come off the bench.Like Brunson and Perkins, Los Angeles guard Alana Beard is also 34 but still a defensive whiz who doesnt seem to have lost a step. Beards hallmark always has been defense, and the same goes for teammate Essence Carson.Ogwumike has become an excellent and versatile defensive player, and Toliver has made strides on defense, too. If there has been a knock on Parker, as fantastic a player as she is, its that she sometimes conserves energy on defense or doesnt make it back to defend when shes upset about a call on the offensive end. But considering its the WNBA Finals, we can expect shell be at her best defensively, too.Momentum shiftsThese happen even between teams that arent similar in talent. But they can be a huge factor when both teams are this good.In the three regular-season meetings between the Lynx and the Sparks, Minnesota won two close games, the first and the third. Los Angeles won the second game after it grabbed momentum in the fourth quarter, outscoring Minnesota by 12 points in that period, and prevailed by 18.Based on what we saw in the semifinals, momentum seems to be a bigger concern for the Sparks. They had two third-quarter lapses against Chicago; one cost them in a loss, and they rallied back from the other.The Lynx have won two of their championships in sweeps (against Atlanta in 2011 and 13) and have had very few big lapses in their WNBA Finals appearances, with one exception: In Game 3 in 2012, which seemed to come out of a parallel universe, Minnesota was blown off the court by Indiana, which went on to win the title in Game 4.Last year in the Lynx-Fever series, three of the first four games were decided by six points each, and the other by Moores buzzer-beating 3-pointer. By the fifth game, the Lynx had worn out the Fever, winning by 17.The trade that worked surprisingly well factorThere are so many standout, veteran players in this series. However, the Lynx and Sparks also have youngsters who were obtained in trades before this season that have paid off.In February, the Lynx dealt for forward Natasha Howard, the No. 5 pick in the 2014 draft by Indiana, because Devereaux Peters wished to leave. Reeve has acknowledged that Minnesota, while aware of Howards potential, wasnt expecting shed make as strong a showing as she has.One of the best games of her career came Sunday, when she had 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists against Phoenix. Howard also has been an effective defensive cog.The Sparks made a trade in March for a scoring guard, obtaining Riquna Williams from Dallas. But Williams was injured and missed the season. Then Los Angeles made another trade in April, this time with Connecticut for point guard Chelsea Gray.Like Howard, Gray was picked in the 2014 draft, at No. 11. Grays college career at Duke was very good but marred by injuries, which extended into her missing the 2014 WNBA season. When healthy, shes an outstanding point guard, and thats something the Sparks needed. Gray had one of her best performances of the season against the Lynx, scoring 20 points on Sept. 6 and making that game close at the end.Plus, as part of the deal for Gray, the Sparks got the Suns 2017 first-round selection, which turned out to be a lottery pick. Los Angeles will have the No. 4 spot in the 2017 draft.Who will be the MVP of MVPs?Minnesotas Moore just keeps getting better and can legitimately lay claim to being the best womens player in the world right now -- even if she wasnt the 2016 WNBA MVP.Moore, at 27, has set a standard so high that even when she has MVP numbers, theres a tendency to take her for granted. You could say the same thing happened a lot with one of her predecessors at UConn, Phoenixs Diana Taurasi.Moore came to the Lynx in 2011 as a great scorer, and she has improved every other aspect of the game. Her playmaking ability, in particular, is something to watch, because she has really taken advantage of having a powerful center in Fowles.Ogwumike won the MVP award this year, and even big fans of Moore and New Yorks Tina Charles couldnt complain too much about that. The buzzword for Ogwumike for this season was her efficiency; she shot 66.5 percent from the field in the regular season and is at 60 percent in the Sparks four postseason games.As mentioned, Ogwumike has become very valuable on the defensive end as well, because she can guard virtually anybody, which is like gold in Aglers team-defense system.Moore and Ogwumike were back-to-back No. 1 draft picks, in 2011 and 2012, and they had great college careers at UConn and Stanford, respectively. Theyre also classy, intelligent, thoughtful people, the kind of ambassadors the WNBA is especially thrilled to have.Which one will have the better WNBA Finals performance? Its likely theyll both be outstanding, and it will be all the other factors weve talked about -- and some we probably havent -- that will make the difference.Custom Basketball Jerseys . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Fake Basketball Jerseys Free Shipping . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. https://www.fakebasketballjerseys.com/ . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. The 21-year-old has three goals, four assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 games with the American Hockey Leagues Oklahoma City Barons this season. Authentic Basketball Jerseys . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. Basketball Jerseys China . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action.NEW YORK -- Dellin Betances gave up a run, so did Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman almost got nicked, too. A surprising sequence for the Yankees vaunted bullpen trio.But Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford put on the most startling performance Friday night -- the Gold Glover threw away three balls, all by himself.Crawford committed three errors for the first time in his career, making a wild toss in the eighth inning that gave New York a 3-2 win and sent San Francisco to its season-worst sixth straight loss.Well take it any way we can get it, said Chase Headley, who slid home just in time with the go-ahead run. Youve got to be opportunistic.Were fighting for our life right now, he said.The Yankees won for the fifth time in six games, trying to improve their playoff possibilities. Joe Girardi managed as if it was a postseason game, making three defensive replacements in the late innings.These are tough losses if you lose, he said, adding, but thats not the case, dont have to worry about it.The Giants held the best record in the majors at the All-Star break, but havent won since. They also lost catcher Buster Posey, who fouled a ball off his right foot and left with a bruise. X-rays were negative and he was listed as day to day.We hit a couple of balls hard, but we didnt get a break, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. And thats the way it goes. When youre in winning streaks, everything goes right. Right now, its not going well for us. But still, you make your breaks. Weve got to tighten up and play crisper ball.Said Crawford: Three errors? Nah, its not happened before.Just kind of three kind of weird plays, all different kind of throws that happened to get away from me, he said.Masahiro Tanaka shut out San Francisco for six innings, giving up four singles. Giants ace Madison Bumgarner went seven innings, allowing two runs.The Giants nicked Betances in the seventh, pulling within 2-1 on a walk, a double by Denard Span and a wild pitch. That ended a streak of 31 scoreless innings by Yankees relievers.A double by Giants pinch-hitter Mac Williamson off Miller (6-1) tied it in the eighth. For the most part, the back end of the Yankees bullpen has been automatic in putting upp zeros.ddddddddddddYou dont see it very often. So when it happens, youre shocked, Girardi said.But the Yankees bounced back, and didnt need to hit the ball hard to do it.Headley opened the eighth with a swinging bunt for a single off Josh Osich (1-2) and Mark Teixeira walked. Austin Romine followed with a grounder to Crawford, who tagged second, spun around and made a hard, high throw that glanced off the glove of first baseman Brandon Belt.Headley kept running and beat Belts throw home. Crawford won his first Gold Glove last season.Just trying to anticipate a bad throw, Headley said. I felt like it rolled far enough away.Chapman closed in the ninth for his 20th save in 21 chances. He worked around a leadoff double by Gregor Blanco.A spirited crowd of 45,304 also included lots of Giants fans, and the rival rooters spent much of the game loudly cheering, often at the same time. There was a truce when a marriage proposal was shown on the scoreboard in-between innings -- he wore a Giants hat, she wore a Yankees cap and said yes to a ring.Carlos Beltran hit an RBI single and reached base four times for New York, and also contributed on defense. The 39-year-old right fielder unleashed a perfect throw home to nail Blanco and later made a running grab to rob Crawford of extra bases.COMFORTABLE CASTROStarlin Castro hit an RBI double in the first inning and later singled twice against Bumgarner. Castro is 14 for 27 (.519) lifetime against the star lefty.INTERLEAGUE WOESThe Yankees are just 4-7 in interleague play, with nine games left. The Giants are 6-9 vs. AL teams.TRAINERS ROOMGiants: OF Hunter Pence (hamstring) was set to play for Triple-A Sacramento, but INF Joe Panik (concussion) was out of the lineup for the second straight day.UP NEXTGiants: RHP Jeff Samardzija (9-5, 4.05) walked a season-high four in his last start vs. San Diego. He is 0-1 with a 6.92 ERA in three career games against the Yankees.Yankees: RHP Ivan Nova (7-5, 4.92) pitched a shutout in 2013 in his only career start vs. the Giants. He has won his last two starts overall. ' ' '