The Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks will meet Tuesday afternoon in what is almost certainly the most-hyped regular-season game in WNBA history.
The teams are undefeated after a combined 23 games and off to the best starts in the league's 20-year history. Their matchup will mark the first time that teams in the WNBA, NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL have met after playing more than 10 games without a loss or tie, according to data supplied by the WNBA.
"If you were to draw this scenario up through writing for a sports fiction story or something, I think the setting of what is going to happen would be high up there as far as the excitement of what's built into this game," Lynx forward Maya Moore said. "It's just a really cool time to focus on and to celebrate the excellence you're seeing on the court from both teams.
"However it plays out … is going to be very impactful for our sport."
The hype built Sunday when the Lynx won 96-84 at Seattle, improving to 12-0. The Sparks moved to 11-0 Friday with a 77-71 victory over Phoenix. The rest of the Western Conference is below .500.
The Lynx, who play the Sparks again at Target Center on Friday night, previously held the league's best start, at 10-0 in 2012.
The teams are either No. 1 or 2 in nearly all team statistics and feature one or two standouts in the top five of most individual categories.
Moore is averaging the third-most points (19.7) and assists (5.0) in the league. Sparks power forward Nneka Ogwumike (pronounced Neeka Ogwimokay) is fourth in rebounds per game (8.8) and her field-goal percentage (. 703) is the best in the WNBA. In her past four games, she has missed only nine of 45 shots.