Sparks know Game 3 on the road at Minnesota will be tough

The Sparks lost their regular-season series to the Minnesota Lynx 3-1, but on Tuesday night they’ll have a chance to win the series that matters more: the Western Conference semifinals.

The Sparks and Lynx are tied at one game apiece in the best-of-three game series, after Candace Parker (25 points, 10 rebounds, six assists) and Ana Dabovic (19 points, seven assists) led the Sparks to an 81-71 victory on Sunday in Long Beach.

Game 3 is at Minnesota, broadcast on ESPN2, with tipoff set for about 6 p.m. PDT.

In Sunday’s game the Sparks were up 53-35 at halftime but nearly blew that lead in the third quarter. Parker knows that with the deciding game in Minnesota the Sparks won’t be able to count on the same hot start.

“We’re not going to get an 18-point cushion on this team anymore,” Parker said.

The Sparks might also be without star forward Nneka Ogwumike, who suffered a strained neck in the third quarter of Game 2 and did not return. There were no updates on her status Monday.

For the Sparks, the key to Game 3 will again be trying to limit Lynx forward Maya Moore. She’s averaging 30 points, 5.5 rebounds, and four steals per game in the series, and has converted at least three three-pointers per contest.

The Sparks could still pull off a win with some solid team defense; they forced 16 turnovers in Game 2 and every starter, except center Jantel Lavender, recorded at least two steals.

Three-point shooting will also be critical: The Sparks were four for 12 from beyond the arc in their Game 1 loss, but made nine of 18 in their win Sunday.

alex.shultz@latimes.com