To win in this WNBA Finals, Sparks, Lynx need strong start

The WNBA Finals clash of the top teams in the league has been as good as advertised.

The Los Angeles Sparks and Minnesota Lynx are tied at one game apiece and the Finals have been a continuation of what has been an even series throughout the season.

In the five games between them in the regular season and playoffs, one thing has has remained the same: The team that wins the first quarter goes on to win the game.

Sparks coach Brian Agler acknowledged that odd constant. But as any coach would, he said that while he thinks a strong start is important, there’s obviously much more that goes into the game than a successful first quarter.

Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike said the Lynx came out with more energy in Game 2, a game they won by 19 points. Part of that energy came from Maya Moore’s 21 points and Seimone Augustus’ 14. Now the focus is to keep that from happening again.

“I think aside from the tactics, we really just need to have more of an aggressive mentality when it comes to defense,” Ogwumike said. “We definitely want to make it very difficult for them to run their offense, which is what we did not do last game. Those stops will hopefully get us easy buckets.”

Offensively, Ogwumike has had two solid games, and she needs Candace Parker and Kristi Toliver to help out. Those two combined for 14 in Game 2, compared with 33 points in the Sparks’ Game 1 win.

The Sparks shot a league-high 37.5% from three-point range during the season. In Game 2, they went 3-for-20.

Ogwumike and Parker will need to rebound better. Minnesota has won the battle of the boards in the first two games, with Moore and Sylvia Fowles getting 27 rebounds in Game 2, five fewer than Los Angeles had as a team.

“We can’t dwell on mistakes,” Ogwumike said. “We can learn from them, but we can’t dwell on them. More importantly, we have to be able to adjust in the game … and then learn from that as well.”

Game 3 tips off Friday at 9 p.m. ET at the Galen Center at the University of Southern California and airs on ESPN2.

The Lynx are attempting to win a league record-tying fourth championship, while the Sparks are looking for their first title since winning back-to-back championships in 2001 and 2002.

“We’re confident in who we’ve been and what we know, but that doesn’t guarantee us anything,” Moore said. “It’s one thing to take that experience and that confidence but not let it take away from your willingness to prepare and to fight and to compete. Just having that understanding that we’ve been here before, but we still have to go out and figure out a way to get it done.”