Replica Rivalry: Why Sparks-Lynx Feels so Much Like Cavs-Warriors

Keep an eye on the superteam, the class and envy of the league and a model franchise on the brink of creating a dynasty. Its mix of MVP talent, key free-agent acquisitions and good-luck drafting (plus a still-shiny championship trophy) has the league's top merch seller well-positioned for dominance in years to come.

The Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green, the fuel of the NBA version of this Minnesota Lynx superteam who says he studies the WNBA to sharpen his game, is probably watching, too.

Watch the Finals rematch between the Lynx and their opponent, the Los Angeles Sparks, as they put each other in the "blender," drive the lane and execute crafty finishes to the basket. Watch them dish and drop dimes with the skill and precision of a surgeon. Watch Candace Parker and league MVP Sylvia Fowles reject shots like overcharged credit cards.

This is the essence of the 2017 WNBA Finals as the series heads to a decisive Game 5 on Wednesday in Minnesota.

Commanding leads. Improbable comebacks.

Sound familiar? That's because it is.

Alex Gallardo/Associated Press

Just like the Golden State Warriors-Cleveland Cavaliers trilogy has featured MVPs in Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, the Sparks-Lynx series has not been lacking in MVP talent. The Sparks' Parker was last year's WNBA Finals MVP while her teammate, Nneka Ogwumike, was the WNBA's MVP for the regular season.

Minnesota is backed by 2017 regular-season MVP Fowles and 2013 WNBA Finals MVP and 2014 regular-season MVP Maya Moore. Similar to their NBA counterparts, the roles of the WNBA MVPs are just as defined. In Los Angeles, Parker is similar to James in the matter of the offense. The Sparks try to flow through Parker much like the Cavs filter their offense through James.

Meanwhile, the Lynx are like Golden State with a core of Fowles, Moore, Rebekkah Brunson and Lindsay Whalen considered a "superteam." Like the Warriors drew free agents Andre Iguodala and Durant and drafted Curry, Klay Thompson and Green, the Lynx built their core around free agent Whalen, dispersal draftee Brunson and got Moore with the first pick in the 2011 WNBA draft. The Lynx, like the Warriors, lead the league in merchandise sales this season, and the ratings for Game 1 in Minnesota were almost three times higher than the ratings in Los Angeles, per Seth Berkman of the New York Times.

But while the teams mostly line up—Lynx-Warriors, Sparks-Cavs—the overall rivalries have produced similar storylines without mixing the ingredients in quite the same way.

Stacy Bengs/Associated Press

The Sparks took a 2-1 lead in the WNBA Finals into Staples Center on Sunday, after beating the Lynx 75-64 in Game 3 behind a combined 45 points from Nneka Ogwumike and Odyssey Sims (16 each) and Parker (13). In the same scenario as last year's WNBA Finals, the Sparks had an opportunity to close out the best-of-five series at home. And just like last year, the Lynx staved off elimination in Game 4. The trio of Fowles, Moore and Brunson combined for 55 points and 35 of the team's 48 rebounds.

Remember how LeBron and Kyrie Irving commandeered their own elimination game with a combined 82 points in Game 5—the first teammate duo to each score 40 in an NBA Finals game—to keep their team alive in 2016?

After Game 4 of the 2016 NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers were as good as eliminated. They were down 3-1 against a juggernaut Golden State Warriors team that won 73 games in the regular season and didn't seem to have any quit despite playing a grueling, emotional seven-game Western Conference Finals series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. James and Irving willed the Cavs to a deciding Game 7 that year and pulled off one of the greatest upsets in sports history.

Alex Gallardo/Associated Press

While the Lynx don't quite have the same level of history on the line, the task in Game 5 is the same: capturing a championship after being down to a talented, overpowering team looking to repeat as champion.

But here's what's not the same: The NBA may have the names and a bigger draw, but Warriors and Cavs Part III doesn't compare to the competition and hustle of Sparks and Lynx Part II.

The 2017 Warriors did what they were assembled and projected to do: dominate. They swept through the Western Conference and capped off a 16-1 playoff run with a 4-1 win over the Cavs. Fans watched Durant demolish the Cleveland defense, averaging 35.2 points per game. Curry made up for his weak 2016 Finals line by averaging nearly a triple-double (26.8 ppg, 9.4 apg, 8.9 rpg) despite being the focus of the Cavs defense for most of the series. The Warriors were just too much for Cleveland.

Jim Mone/Associated Press

This Sparks and Lynx series has been competitive. For the second year in a row, the WNBA Finals have come down to one winner-takes-all contest. A single point decided Game 1 (85-84 Sparks), while Game 2 was about two Moore free throws and the Lynx's turnover advantage at the end of the game. In Game 4, with the trophy on the line, the Lynx led by as many as 17 points before taking the W.

Now it's time for Game 5.

It'll be up to Parker to control the Sparks offense like a Game 7 James. Or maybe it's time for the Lynx superstars to, like a rejuvenated Durant, remind everyone how they became MVPs.

The performances of James, Curry and Durant can't be duplicated. But the WNBA Finals have meshed fundamentals, court intelligence, and straight grit and hustle into a gutsy, competitive five-game series that, like all the best sports matchups, could be decided only as the clock hits zeroes.