“Game 5 is going to be who wants it more,” Moore said.

Facing an end to their season, the Lynx were aggressive from the start, grabbing a lot of loose balls and dominating the glass. They trailed by 10-8 before scoring 11 straight points in the first quarter.

The Lynx, who never led in Game 3, built as much as a 19-point lead in the third quarter. The Sparks rallied but could never get closer than 8 points late in the fourth quarter.

“We had to leave everything we had out there,” said Minnesota’s Rebekkah Brunson, who had 18 points and 13 rebounds. “Use my energy, and hopefully they can feed off that.”

Odyssey Sims scored 18 points and Nneka Ogwumike 17 for the Sparks.

Minnesota dominated inside the paint with baskets and rebounds. Minnesota outrebounded Los Angeles by 48-28. The Sparks had outrebounded the Lynx in Game 3, and that was a point of emphasis for the team to be more physical inside.

“I just love the way we competed for 40 minutes,” Moore said. “Everybody was really locked in and trying to be the aggressor the whole time. We didn’t play a perfect game, but did enough to beat a really good Sparks team on the road.”