Yadda yadda race to the playoffs, yadda yadda not dead yet, yadda yadda it's the W meets parity -- did you expect anything less?

1) The Silver Stars (11-16), in the running for the most disappointing team of the season, traveled to Detroit where 7.130 watched the seemingly ageless Katie Smith drop 31pts (10-15, 6-9 from 3pt land). The Shock took the lead in the first and kept it throughout, exiting with a 99-84 victory.

"We've dug ourselves a hole, and we've got a lot of work to do if we even want to sniff the playoffs,'' said Katie Smith, who led Detroit with a season-high 31 points. "We're going to try to at least make it exciting.''

They travel to Connecticut next -- always a fun match-up. Heh. Heh.

2) 11,304 watched the Dream spot the Sparks an early lead, but they could never quite catch up. LA emerged victorious behind Parker's 23 pts on 8-13 shooting. Angel matched Candace's output and has, perhaps, emerged as frontrunner for ROY.

"I'm definitely not 100 percent, but I'm getting there,'' said Parker, who played all but three minutes and was 8 for 13 from the floor. "I'm about 85 percent. Come playoffs, it will be 100 percent.''

Coolness: Coach Summitt was in the house!

Of deep concern for Atlanta: Holdsclaw sitting out the entire 40 minutes -- damn sore knees.

She played only the first quarter Thursday and didn't score in a victory over San Antonio.

"Right now, she's going to the doctor,'' Dream coach Marynell Meadors said. "We're just not taking any chances with her.''

Meadors said that she doesn't know how long Holdsclaw will be out

3) Shameka, Shameka, Shameka. Christon proved why she's an All-Star (and that a skinny kid who walks like she's stepping on hot sand can carry a team).

The Lynx started off red-hot (30pts in the first quarter) and the Lib ice-cold but, fortunately for us NY fans, the roles reversed at halftime. Though it was not a brilliant shooting night for Christon (6-16), her 24pts plus Kraayeveld's season high 18 ("Holy crap!", she must be thinking, "I DO still know how to shoot the damn ball!") and some unexpected contributions from the bench ("Hey, is that that Larkins kid?") drove the Lib to a 80-67 victory.

The win allows the Lib to (let's all say it at once) "Keep their playoff hopes alive."

Front office peeps must be having kittens trying to decide whether to send off playoff ticket forms and chatting with their NBA counterparts about schedules.