Up next for Sparks: Saturday at Tulsa

Where: Bank of Oklahoma Center.

On the air: WNBA.com.

Records: Sparks 11-19, Shock 5-25.

Record vs. Shock: 3-0.

Update: The 17-foot buzzer-beater that Tina Thompson hit Thursday to beat Minnesota looked even bigger for the Sparks on Friday, when the Lynx lost to Washington. That defeat allowed the Sparks to move into a tie with Minnesota for the fourth place in the West. Tulsa is coming off a 94-74 loss Friday to the San Antonio Silver Stars, who moved into third place in the West, one game ahead of the Sparks and Lynx. The top four teams in each conference advance to the playoffs and, in the four remaining regular-season games, the Sparks will face the league-worst Shock, No. 2 Phoenix, Minnesota and No. 1 Seattle. Tulsa is led by Ivory Latta, who’s averaging 12 points, and the Sparks are led by Thompson, who’s averaging 15.3 points.

— Melissa Rohlin