The Los Angeles Sparks have been locked in battle for the 8th seed for the WNBA Playoffs with multiple teams over the last few weeks. The Indiana Fever and the Golden State Valkyries have all recently secured playoff entry, leaving the Seattle Storm to battle it out with the Sparks for the final spot.

The Sparks have lost crucial matches in the final stretch of the regular season and have failed to capitalize on their recent September 1 win over Seattle. They may lead the season series 3-1, but need the stars to align to leapfrog the Storm(22-21).

Seattle has one final game to play against the Golden State Valkyries later on Tuesday, which LA needs them to lose. They themselves have two games remaining to round off the regular season and need to win both.

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The Sparks play the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday before taking on the third-placed Las Vegas Aces. They are currently 20-22 and need the Storm to finish 22-22 in order to clinch the 8th seed on the basis of the season series victory.

The Sparks had hoped to kick on after their victory over Seattle, which came courtesy of Dearica Hamby producing 27 points and 11 rebounds and Rickea Jackson scoring 23. Since then, Seattle has gone on to lose against defending champions the New York Liberty, during which Nneka Ogwumike top-scored for her team with 20 points.

For the Sparks, that meant the final playoff seed will be decided on the Storm's last gameday of the regular season. However, Seattle takes on a Golden State team that has already secured qualification, which means that the Sparks are left hoping for the best as we approach the business end of the WNBA season.

The Storm knows that they still have their fate in their own hands. For the Sparks, the sheer difficulty of the remaining fixtures against the fourth-placed Mercury and the third-placed Aces means they may already have their task cut out.