Postgame: Defense sparks L.A. to comeback win over Lynx

To watch a replay of the Lynx vs. Los Angeles Sparks game, turn on FSN at noon today. Here's a hint on what happens: the home team wins. Did I spoil it for you?

Darn. Coach Jen Gillom's gold-clad Farmers Insurance players spoiled Maya Moore's WNBA debut. They played defense when they fell behind.

"Second half we came out defensive-minded," Gillom said after the Spark's 82-74 victory. "That's something I've been trying to emphasize to my players since the beginning of training camp. Defense is what we have to hang our hats on this year. We know we can score, but can we stop someone else."

L.A. did late in the third quarters, outscoring the Lynx 16-5 to close the third quarter ahead 59-57.

"Our teammates came in and did a great job," Sparks forward Tina Thompson said, referring to the L.A. bench which scored 29 points. The Lynx bench had 18. That's an 11-point difference.

Said Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve: "[We] couldn't stop the bleeding; 23 second-chance points is unacceptable."

Minnesota might have some problems inside with rebounding. Rebecca Brunson is a beast but she needs help.

Maya Moore, the rookie, led the Lynx in scoring with 21 points in her first WNBA game. "A lot of highs and a lot of lows," she said. "It's kind of bittersweet.

"We know what we need to do Sunday."

That would be to win a game against L.A., which is 8-0 against the Lynx in their last eight meetings. L.A. and the Lynx meet again at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Target Center.

The Lynx don't want to start 0-2 with two losses to a Western Conference opponent. That would dampen expectations real quickly. A split -- that would be OK at this point.