Surprising almost nobody, the LJ-less Storm fell hard to the Sparks in game three. The home team trailed badly early and never caught up: "How that game started on national television was just embarrassing," said Swin Cash.

She wasn't talking about her own play, though; she was talking about the officiating, which produced a festival of fouls early on: Pee Wee Johnson ended up fouling out of her last-ever game. The announcers agreed that it made for bad TV, even if the officials had to call what they thought they saw; Q calls their behavior a disaster. It certainly made for an ugly first half.

Had L.A. lost, it would have been the last game of Leslie's career as well. As it is, the iconic Olympian and her yellow-and-purple teammates await the winner of tonight's game three in the Valley of the Sun, where a deep bench this year has helped Phoenix keep their speedy style all game. "No matter what five [Mercury players] are in there, we feel comfortable," Diana says.