Sun earn 4th seed with 89-86 win over Sparks

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Jasmine Thomas scored 27 points and the Connecticut Sun beat the Los Angeles Sparks 89-86 on Sunday to secure the fourth seed in the WNBA playoffs.

Connecticut (21-13) will have a first-round bye and host the winner of No. 5 seed Phoenix Mercury and eighth-seeded Dallas Wings in the second round. Los Angeles (19-15) took the sixth seed and will host the No. 7 seed Minnesota Lynx in the first round.

The Sun led 82-72 on Jonquel Jones' 3-point play with 1:51 left. The Sparks rallied to within 86-84 on Candace Parker's 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds left, but Thomas hit a pair of free throws with 4.0 seconds left and added a technical free throw with 1.2 seconds left to cap the scoring.

Jones added 17 points and nine rebounds for Connecticut, and Courtney Williams had 13 points.

Parker had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Jantel Lavender scored 17 points for Los Angeles.