Talent-laden Lynx smother Sparks without Parker

On Tuesday, the Lynx started four players who participated in last weekend's WNBA All-Star Game.

Their opponent, Los Angeles, had one All-Star, but center Candace Parker was back in California. She has missed a month because of a knee injury.

Parker tweeted she was watching the game on wnba.com. She might have been tempted to shut her computer off.

The Lynx routed the Sparks 85-72 before an announced crowd of 8,044. The victory was their sixth in seven games and kept them alone atop the Western Conference standings.

"I was really happy with the fact we turned them over 25 times, 17 times in the first half," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "We like to score off of that."

The Lynx scored 35 points off Sparks turnovers and had 18 points on fast breaks.

"Obviously, two players played really well for them," Reeve said, referring to guard Kristi Toliver with 28 points and center Ebony Hoffman with 24. "But from a team perspective, we had really good balance. And it was a good win for us."

The Lynx (11-4) led by as many as 16 points midway through the second quarter and were up 43-30 at halftime.

But the Sparks (6-9) went on a 11-2 run as the third quarter began to close within four. The Lynx countered later that quarter with their own 10-0 run -- guard Seimone Augustus had the last five points -- to take a commanding 61-44 lead.

"We fought back hard," said Sparks coach Joe Bryant, whose record fell to 2-3 after he replaced the fired Jen Gillom. "But the biggest thing was that first quarter; we dug ourselves a [28-16] hole. Minnesota was very aggressive with their hands and their arms and being physical with us.

"Dangerous team," added Bryant, Kobe Bryant's father.

"When you have [Lindsay] Whalen coming down on the break and you have Maya [Moore] and Augustus on the sides, that's like having Kobe and Dwyane Wade coming on the wing.

"Who do you guard? Who do you check?

"They are talented, they are athletic, they are fast. [Rebekkah] Brunson is a beast. Taj [McWilliams-Franklin] is experienced. In my mind, they should be the [WNBA] favorite with the skill set they have."

Bryant named every Lynx starter because they all contributed.

Whalen had 16 points and seven assists. McWilliams-Franklin, the 40-year-old center, had 14 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Moore had an off night shooting -- 2-for-11, eight points -- but she also contributed four assists and three steals. Brunson had six points and six rebounds, five on offense.