2011 WNBA Playoff Picture: Minnesota Lynx Clinch Western Conference, Seattle Storm One Game Away From Clinching Playoff Berth

With a thrilling 65-63 victory at KeyArena against the Los Angeles Sparks, the Seattle Storm not only remained a half game ahead of the third place Phoenix Mercury in second place in the Western Conference but also moved within a game of clinching a playoff berth.

The Storm will have an opportunity to clinch that playoff berth on Tuesday evening in Los Angeles, adding drama to an already intense rivalry after an intense game tonight. A win would would also win the season series for the Storm, giving them the tiebreaker with the Sparks if things come to that.  If they don't win on Tuesday, the next Storm win or L.A. loss will guarantee the Storm a playoff spot.

But a loss on Tuesday would put the Sparks in quite a bind.

"We need to win," said Sparks forward Candace Parker after the loss at KeyArena on Sunday night. "If we play like that, I feel like we'll win all the games. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of games left, but I'm still hopeful."

The Sparks remain 1.5 games behind the fourth place San Antonio Silver Stars for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs. Although people will look at the Sparks' loss to the Tulsa Shock on Friday night as a major setback, they still are not out of it - beating the Indiana Fever on August 18 still stands out as a big win for them and will give them some slack moving forward as four of their five remaining games are at home. 

As close as they played Seattle at KeyArena, Tuesday's game at the Staples Center is quite winnable for them. Then after a game in Phoenix, their final three games are at home, including a head-to-head meeting with the Silver Stars for a chance to gain a game on them directly. Nevertheless, the Sparks' consecutive close losses could end up stinging even more if they miss the playoffs.

The Silver Stars have six games remaining, including their final two of the season against the 3-25 Tulsa Shock and 5-23 Washington Mystics. With Danielle Adams back, it's not inconceivable that they could go on a late-season run to create some space between themselves and the Sparks. But after losing consecutive games to the first place Minnesota Lynx, their trip to the playoffs might not be long or particularly pleasant.

With the Silver Stars' loss to the Lynx on Sunday in San Antonio, the Lynx clinched first place in the Western Conference and are now competing with the Eastern Conference's Indiana Fever - currently only 1.5 games ahead of the second place Connecticut Sun - for home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Their magic number currently stands at three.

Seattle Storm Vs. L.A. Sparks Final Score: Sue Bird's Late-Game Free Throws Get A 65-63 Win

On an otherwise dismal scoring night for point guard Sue Bird, a late mistake by Los Angeles Sparks guard Kristi Toliver made her the hero once again in the Seattle Storm's 65-63 win at KeyArena tonight.

Toliver knew she had made a mistake the moment the referee whistled her for a foul on Bird with the game tied and only 1.6 seconds left.

With the Storm in the bonus, Toliver's foul led to Bird calmly stepping to the line and knocking down the game-winning free throws to help the Storm escape with the win.

"The play was designed for me to come off, and when I did they came and I kicked to Tanisha (Wright)," said Bird according to StormBasketball.com. "Luckily the blocked shot ended up in my hands. They came running at me so hard I just pump faked and took the hit.".

Toliver was sprinting out at full speed to meet Bird who was coming the left side of the 3-point arc with the ball. Toliver came out with her arms up to avoid getting called for a foul, but with Bird falling to the ground after making contact the officials were put in a tough predicament.

"I thought we played well defensively," said Sparks guard Ticha Penicheiro, who finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists. "We were right there. I don't want to talk about the last play and the foul they called because we shouldn't even be in that position."

Bird finished the game with 12 points on only 2-for-12 shooting, but added a game-high five steals, led the Storm in assists with four and tied for a team-high seven rebounds with Swin Cash. Lauren Jackson led the Storm in scoring with 14 points to go with five rebounds, while still going without an offensive rebound since her return from injury.

"We played them tough," said Sparks forward Candace Parker. "We played well defensively, but it just didn't come out in our favor. I don't have any thoughts about (the foul called on Sue Bird)."

But it was a particularly tough way to lose after Parker came alive late in the fourth quarter to bring the Sparks back from down eight points left in the fourth quarter, scoring nine of her game-high 19 points in the final six minutes and hit the free throws just over a minute beforehand to tie the game. Parker's inspired performance down the stretch helped the Sparks shoot 53.8 percent in the fourth quarter while the Storm managed only three made shots in the final frame and shot 20 percent.

Although the Sparks both outshot and outrebounded the Storm, poor ball control hurt them throughout the game, particularly in the third quarter when they turned the ball over on about a quarter of their possessions. Meanwhile, winning that turnover battle becomes one of the more subtly encouraging signs for the Storm tonight as they only committed two turnovers in the final period to help them overcome their poor shooting.

Parker finished with a well-rounded performance of game-highs of 14 rebounds and five blocks as well as two assists and two steals, showing that she can absolutely take over a game when she wants to. 

The Sparks' improved fourth quarter performance only adds to the drama of their game on Tuesday night, when the Storm travel to Los Angeles for a rematch at Staples Center that is likely to be equally hard fought as both teams look forward to the playoffs.

Seattle Storm Vs. L.A. Sparks Halftime Score: Strong Second Quarter Helps Storm To 37-30 Lead

The Los Angeles Sparks allow the highest rate of offensive rebounds in the league and have been beat badly on the offensive boards in all six games since star forward Candace Parker's return from injury.

Yet they managed to hold the Seattle Storm without an offensive rebound in the first half of tonight's game, which has to be a bright spot despite a 37-30 halftime deficit.

It's not exactly as though the Sparks are dominating the offensive boards either with only one of their own, but the combined anemic combined offensive rebounding output is something of a testament to how well both teams played defense in the first quarter in which each team shot only 33.33 percent.

Then after a rather grinding defensive game in the first quarter, both teams found ways to free themselves up for scoring opportunities in the second quarter and the Storm really started clicking. The Storm shot 53.3 percent in the second quarter, shot 5-for-7 from the free throw line, and didn't commit any turnovers.

Tanisha Wright led the scoring effort in the first half with a game-high 11 points, but it was Lauren Jackson's performance that stood out. Jackson tied for a team-high four rebounds scored 10 points, including two three point plays against Parker deep in the post where few in the league can stop the reigning WNBA MVP.

Aside from picking up two fouls trying to stay with Jackson, Parker has been relatively quite with a game-high six rebounds and only four points. The Sparks stayed in the game in the second quarter with 4-for-8 3-point shooting, led by Ebony Hoffman's 3-for-4 performance as well as a long ball from usually low scoring point guard Ticha Penicheiro, who led the team with 10 points.

After playing just under eight minutes in their loss to the Tulsa Shock on Friday night, Sparks guard Kristi Toliver got her 12th start of the season as head coach Joe Bryant tries to find a combination that works.

Seattle Storm Vs. L.A. Sparks On ESPN2: Three Keys For The Storm

Perhaps the biggest story of this WNBA weekend will be the Tulsa Shock ending their WNBA record 20-game losing streak with consecutive wins, beginning with a 77-75 win over the Los Angeles Sparks at the Staples Center on Friday.

One of the most significant factors for the Sparks' loss on Friday was that they allowed the Shock to get offensive rebounds at a much better rate than their average, not to mention putting up little defensive resistance to the Sparks. Their defensive struggles combined with forward Candace Parker being held to well beneath her average scoring production.

However, it's also worth noting that those are two of the things that stood out about the Sparks first meeting against the Storm in Los Angeles with both Storm center Lauren Jackson and Sparks forward Candace Parker healthy - the Storm limited the Sparks' rebounding and Parker only had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Nevertheless, the Sparks blew out the Storm 74-50 and it could have been worse were it not for Sue Bird and her 15 points,  five rebounds, and three assists.

In other words, the Sparks are more than capable of winning games without rebounding, even if late-game lapses killed them against the Shock. So if that's the case, how can the Storm beat the Sparks today?

Three keys for the Storm against the Sparks:

• Win the turnover battle: The Storm have been noticeably better on the turnover front since Jackson's return to action three games ago, but the Shock and Sparks were the only two teams with a worse disparity in their rate of turnovers compared to opponents. The Sparks commit a number of turnovers by trying to squeeze passes into tight spots. They weren't at all excessively sloppy in their loss to the Shock on Friday, but for a strong defensive team like the Storm simply identifying assignments, pressuring their primary ball handlers to give up the ball, and rotating well, they can generate offense in transition off their defense.
  
• Close out on 3-point shooters: The Sparks are not a team that's going to run a lot and score in transition, but one thing that makes them tough to defend in the halfcourt - particularly with Parker in the game lineup - is that they are the best 3-point shooting team in the league at 41.2 percent and they're not shy about taking them. When they're at their best, they're spreading the floor and moving the ball quickly forcing the defense to shift and just taking advantage of open shots. With six players shooting over 40 percent from the 3-point line, they are more than capable of stretching the defense and making them pay for poor rotations.
  
• Crash the offensive boards hard: Although the Sparks are clearly capable of winning games without rebounding well as the Storm are well aware, their struggle to keep opponents off the boards creates major problems for them - they are last in the league in second chance points allowed. It's very important to note that Jackson was not playing well prior to her injury and has played much better since. But one thing that's interesting is that in her three games back from injury, she has zero offensive rebounds. Storm coach Brian Agler noted that she is still comfortable away from the basket since her return and that might explain the lack of offensive rebounding. But the Sparks will offer up plenty of opportunities to get offensive rebounds and if Jackson can get inside, she could play a major role in a victory by beating the Sparks on second chance points.

Seattle Storm Vs. Los Angeles Sparks On ESPN2: The First Of A Back-To-Back With Playoff Implications

The Seattle Storm host the Los Angeles Sparks at 6 p.m. at KeyArena on ESPN2 in a game with playoff implications for both teams and the Western Conference playoff race.

Today's game is the first of a back to back pair that will finish out the regular season series between the two. Although the Storm won the last meeting between the two teams, the Sparks blew the Storm out at the Staples Center earlier this season.

In addition to being available on national television, the game will be broadcast online at ESPN3.com.

For more on the Storm, visit our Seattle Storm section. For more on the WNBA in general, visit SB Nation's women's basketball site Swish Appeal.