The Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks have refused to play an unexciting game for two straight seasons. Game 1 of this year’s series was as good as sports get, and Game 2 was a chaotic thriller in itself (though maybe for the wrong reasons).

The Lynx just barely edged this one out, 70-68, after the referees made a pair of brutal calls in the final 44 seconds, and both teams coughed the ball up on the final three possessions of the game.

This was madness.

All over again!

Let’s review what the heck went on.

With 44 seconds to go and the Lynx up three, Odyssey Sims was called for a foul that didn’t exist.

Maya Moore wasn’t careful dribbling the ball up the floor with Sims lurking behind, and the Sparks guard appeared to pluck the ball right from her hands. It should have been LA’s ball with the opportunity to tie the game. But this was the first of two bad crunch-time calls from the referees.

Even worse, the Sparks were over the limit, and Moore was awarded two free-throw attempts. She only made one.

A bad call against the Lynx happened on the VERY next play.

With 33 seconds left, and the Lynx up four points, Rebekkah Brunson defended Candace Parker perfectly off the dribble. With nowhere to go, Parker was forced to step-back and launch, and Brunson swatted her shot.

The referees saw a foul that again wasn’t there.

Parker went to the line and sunk both to make it a two-point game.

With 13 seconds to go, down two, LA held the ball and called timeout. That was a mistake.

The Lynx’s defense was suffocating on the inbounds pass that could’ve put them down 2-0 in the best-of-five series.

Alana Beard had nowhere to throw the ball in, and with no timeouts, she was hit with a five-second call.

Game over right?

WRONG!

Seimone Augustus falls on the very next play, and it’s LA ball all over again

She ... just tripped.

But the Sparks still couldn’t capitalize.

LA still had 13 seconds to tie or win the game. They found their Game 1 hero, Gray, but Augustus and Brunson swarmed off the dribble and forced a turnover. That finally ended the Sparks’ run.

Down by double-digits for nearly the entire game, this one was never LA’s to win. But it was of course close, because big leads mean nothing in a Sparks-Lynx WNBA Finals.