Sparks feeling opportunistic as they begin trip against first-place Washington Mystics

After taking down the formerly first-place Connecticut Sun on Sunday, the next thing on the Sparks’ regular-season-setting agenda: a chance Tuesday to close the gap wtih the first-place Washington Mystics (4 p.m., ESPN2) too.
With the Las Vegas Aces’ loss Sunday, the Sparks (18-10) will arrive in Washington (21-8) in third place in the WNBA standings. With six games left, L.A. is sitting just 2½ games out of first place and 1½ out of second — especially significan