WASHINGTON -- — Brittney Sykes scored 21 points. including a driving layup in the closing seconds, and the Los Angeles Sparks kept their slim playoff hopes alive Sunday with a 79-76 win over the Washington Mystics.
Los Angeles (13-20), which snapped a six-game losing streak, are one of five teams within two games of each other vying for the final two postseason berths.
The Sparks are 1 1/2 games back of seventh-place Atlanta (14-18) and a game behind Phoenix (14-19) for the final playoff spot with a week left in the regular season.
Washington is in a battle with Seattle for the fourth spot. The Mystics trail by a half-game with two games left. Sykes, with the shot clock winding down, kissed a left-hand runner high off the glass to give the Sparks a three-point lead with 39.7 seconds to go.