According to Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, things were much better Thursday. Wednesday, after a poor practice, Reeve criticized her starters at length, even hinting that she might contemplate lineup changes.

Today Reeve was in a much better mood, and there will be no changes for now.

"We'll give 'em a crack at it tomorrow," Reeve joked, referring to Friday's showdown with Los Angeles. "It was a very good effort practice."

The Lynx will be trying to lengthen their franchise record for consecutive regular season home wins – they have won 12 so far, dating back to last season – while trying to keep the Sparks (0-2) winless on the road this season.

I expect the Lynx to come out very strong for this game. The starters had to sit and watch the second half of Friday's blowout loss in L.A., then had to endure criticism from their coach after practice on Wednesday. I think this will be a very motivated bunch.

A couple other items:

--Lynx forward/guard Maya Moore dropped to third in the WNBA MVP race, according to the weekly rankings on the league's web site. First a week ago, Moore is now ranked behind Atlanta's Angel McCoughtry and Diana Taurasi of Phoenix.

--Lynx point guard Lindsay Whalen was one of five players who received a 2013 ESPY award nomination for best player in the WNBA. Voting begins tomorrow at espn.com/espys. The awards show is July 17.