At 21-18 with five games left, the sixth-place Golden State Valkyries are in the driver\u2019s seat, but not by much. The Indiana Fever are nipping at their heels at 21-19, their playoff hopes alive despite being without Caitlin Clark<\/b> for most of the season. At 22-20, Seattle has the edge in the wins column, but it has just two games left (at home against New York and Golden State) and will likely find itself staring at scores as the season comes to a close, waiting to find out its fate. The Sparks, 19-20, have the toughest road, but they have five games left to play themselves into the postseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeams are fighting for their lives,\u201d Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike <\/b>said in a press conference after Monday\u2019s loss<\/a>. \u201cTeams are fighting for home-court advantage, for their spots in their playoffs. So you have to be able to digest things and then move forward and see how you can get the next win. We did a good job of that for the most part the last couple weeks. But there\u2019s only two games left, so there\u2019s no option but to win both of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Its fitting that the Sparks and Storm have been going in different directions in late-and-close situations.<\/p>\n The Sparks have found themselves in 20 clutch games this season \u2014 leading or trailing by 5 with fewer than five minutes remaining. Midway through July, they weren\u2019t a team that found ways to come out with wins. In nine late-and-close situations through July 12, they were 2-7.<\/p>\n Since then, they\u2019ve been a different team in crunch time. Their 9-2 record in clutch games since July 12 is second only to the Las Vegas Aces over that stretch.<\/p>\n The Storm are at the opposite end of the spectrum, with a 4-9 record in clutch games over that span, third-worst over that span. They\u2019re 13-14 overall in clutch games.<\/p>\n With playoff hopes dangling in front of them, they found themselves in the clutch Monday.<\/p>\n The Storm let a 17-point, third quarter lead evaporate. By the 5:14 mark of the fourth quarter, they were clinging to a 5-point lead. The Sparks erased that with an 11-0 run to close the game.<\/p>\n