Lynx Take Road Toll on the Sparks, 76-72

It didn’t matter that the Sparks nearly came back from a 25-point, second-half deficit.

On their sixth game of an eight-game trip, the Sparks lost, 76-72, Sunday to the fifth-place Minnesota Lynx (12-14) at Minneapolis. The Lynx, who had led, 56-31, in the second half, ended a five-game losing streak.

That dropped the Sparks (12-13) into a tie with Phoenix for the fourth and final playoff spot in the WNBA’s Western Conference. They have lost four of their last five games.

“Making a nice run doesn’t mean anything,” Spark Coach Henry Bibby said. “We didn’t come out with any urgency, we didn’t have any intensity, and we didn’t play any defense early on.”

Lisa Leslie led the Sparks with 20 points on nine-for-15 shooting, and Mwadi Mabika added 17 points.

With less than five minutes left, the Sparks used a 14-1 run to close within two points. Mabika’s uncontested layup with 12.5 seconds left cut Minnesota’s lead to 74-72. Nicole Ohlde, who finished with 13 points, then made two free throws to help hold off L.A.

Minnesota was playing its first home game without Katie Smith, its All-Star guard-forward who had recently been traded to Detroit.

“If Katie was in, we would’ve known where the last shots were coming from,” Leslie said. “Now, you don’t know, and I don’t think they did either. You saw that when we got within 10.”

Washington 61, Indiana 60 -- DeLisha Milton-Jones and Chasity Melvin each made two free throws in the final seven seconds to lead the Mystics (14-12) at Washington. Milton-Jones’ free throws gave Washington a 59-57 lead with 7.3 seconds left. The Fever (15-11) lost an offensive rebound out of bounds with 2.8 seconds left. Melvin’s free throws gave the Mystics a 61-57 lead. Tamika Catchings, who finished with 11 points, made a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Detroit 72, New York 67 -- Deanna Nolan scored 20 points and Swin Cash had 11 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Shock (11-14) over the Liberty (13-13) at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Sacramento 55, Houston 45 -- Reserve guard Kara Lawson scored 13 points, including two late three-pointers, to lead the Monarchs (20-7) over the Comets (15-12) at Sacramento.