MINNEAPOLIS -- In a championship series filled with stars, Alana Beard sometimes can get lost with so much attention on Minnesotas four Olympians and the two MVPs in Los Angeles.Thats exactly what happened in the closing moments of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, and Beard hit a jumper from the baseline just before time expired to lift the Sparks to a 78-76 victory over the defending champion Lynx.With the defense collapsing on Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike in the paint, Beard found herself all alone in the corner. She took the pass from Chelsea Gray and knocked down jumper with Maya Moores in her face.As the ball splashed through, Moore put her head in her hands, and the Sparks celebrated a thrilling victory, their second on Minnesotas court this season.You may not recognize the importance of her statistically for us a lot of times, Sparks coach Brian Agler said. But her presence, her leadership, obviously how disruptive she can be defensively, and then for her to hit a shot like that, it was incredible.Kristi Toliver scored 19 points to lead Los Angeles and Parker had 14 points and nine rebounds in her finals debut. League MVP Ogwumike added 19 points for the Sparks in the opener of the best-of-five series.Sylvia Fowles had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Lindsay Whalen scored 18 points for top-seeded Minnesota. Moore scored all 18 of her points in the second half to move into first place on the WNBAs career finals scoring list, but the Lynx committed 16 turnovers and got caught scrambling on the final possession of the game.I think we were more worried about not letting anyone get to the hole, Fowles said. Im not sure exactly what happened on that last play to make her get wide open. But we learned from this.There was a time not too long ago when Beards name belonged on the marquee with players Parker and Ogwumike or Lynx stars Moore, Sylvia Fowles, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen. She was the national player of the year at Duke, the No. 2 overall pick by the Washington Mystics in 2004 and a four-time All-Star before injuries set her back.She re-emerged in Los Angeles as a defensive specialist, but she took center stage in Game 1. Before she hit the game-winner, Beard also had a spectacular block of a shot by Whalen and then a steal off an inbounds to set up Ogwumikes bucket for a 76-72 lead.Moore scored on a coast-to-coast layup to tie the score at 76 with 24.7 seconds to play, but she helped aggressively on Grays drive on the other end, leaving Beard open for just her second bucket of the game.I dont think Ive ever hit a game-winner, Beard said quietly. So its pretty cool. Pretty cool.NEW LOOK: In years past these two teams never could have met in the finals because both are in the Western Conference. But the league changed its playoff format this year and seeded all of the teams based on record, not geography. The result in the first year could not have been better for the league with the top two teams throughout the season meeting.I dont think its a fluke that were here now in the finals, Fowles said. Im loving this new format.PARKERS DEBUT: Parker has been one of the leagues brightest stars for years, but has never been able to reach the leagues biggest stage. She hit 5 of 12 shots and had three assists.At first obviously theres some nerves, but you kind of get lost in the game and just trying to execute, Parker said. We had to take it possession by possession because you never know whats going to happen.MOORES MARK: The Minnesota star was 0 for 4 in the first half, but made 7 of 10 shots in the final two quarters to move past Diana Taurasi for first place on the WNBAs career scoring list for the finals. She set the mark with 5:20 to play after hitting a jump shot and converting the three-point play.TOP 20: The WNBA hosted more than a dozen members of the top 20 players in league history for a halftime ceremony. Each player was presented with a ring to commemorate it. Whalen, Moore, Parker and Augustus all participated in the ceremony, and the league extended the length of halftime to allow them to receive their rings and then get back to the locker room to meet with coaches and teammates.UP NEXT: Game 2 is on Tuesday in Minneapolis. Yannick Carrasco Belgium Jersey . Malkin got tangled up with Detroits Luke Glendening early in the third period and his left skate took the brunt of collision with the boards behind Pittsburghs net. Axel Witsel Jersey . Tuesdays surgery at Atlantas Piedmont Hospital was performed by Dr. Xavier Duralde and Hawks team physician Dr. Michael Bernot. http://www.soccerbelgiumteamonline.com/Adnan-Januzaj-UEFA-European-Belgium-Jersey/ .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. Marouane Fellaini Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . Nacer Chadli Jersey . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield. LOUDON, N.H. -- Tony Stewart left New Hampshire Motor Speedway and couldnt be happier with his crew Sunday afternoon.One of the other Stewart-Haas Racing drivers, though, left far from happy.Stewart often talks about chemistry with his team, especially new crew chief Mike Bugarewicz. That chemistry helped lead him to a second-place finish in the New Hampshire 301.Kevin Harvick finished fourth, and he might have finished as high -- or higher -- than Stewart if he hadnt lost several positions on two pit stops during the race.Harvick fell back to 11th twice in a race that didnt have many early cautions, and he never could consistently get back among the top three cars.One of the stops was slow because of a mechanical failure of an air gun, while the other stop was more a lack of execution.Im disgusted, to tell you the truth, Harvick said. Its the same thing every week. We just make mistake after mistake, and until we clean that up we dont have a chance to win races, putting ourselves in a hole every time we make a mistake.It sucks because the cars are plenty fast, but we are just not executing.Harvick said a decision on how to deal with the lack of performance by the pit crew would have to come from management.?Pit crews usually dont come under the authority of the crew chief -- theyre typically assigned to a team by the organizations competition department.There is no way we can win a championship like this unless they straighten some of this stuff out, Harvick said.While Harvick was frustrated, his boss was pumped after another solid run. Stewart has four top-seven finishes in the past five Sprint Cup races, with a win at Sonoma and a second at New Hampshire being the highlights.At New Hampshire, Stewart was 18th just 75 laps into the race. While Harvick had trouble making his way through the field, Stewart was able to gradually get to the front over the final half of the event.He was 10th with 60 laps remaining, and thanks to restarting on the outside on most occasions and taking advantage of others mistakes, he ended up second.In recent years, Stewart would rarely improve if he struggled early. Now it seems to be a weekly occurrence that he gets better throughout a race.Im working with a different crew chief this year, and it seems like we are really getting on some things that are working for us, Stewart said. Its just chemistry. Thats what its always been in this sport, and when you get a combination thats working, youve got to keep building off of that.Every crew chief Ive had has been a good crew chief, but for some reeason we havent been able with the last two to get that magic weve been looking for.dddddddddddd Maybe we finally hit on the equation this time.While there was a time when it appeared Stewart might not even make it into the top 30 in points after missing the first eight races because of a broken back, Stewart now has a 67-point cushion on 30th and solidly has secured his Chase spot thanks to the Sonoma win.Everything that you want is there, all the ingredients are there, and weve just got to finish putting it all together, Stewart said. Im really, really proud where this [No. 14] team is right now.Xfinity Series: More heats coming upThe final heat race of the season for the Xfinity drivers comes this week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.The heats will be 20 laps and the main event 60 laps around the 2.5-mile track.The heat races have not been the most exciting parts of Xfinity events, but they have allowed teams to work on their cars before the main events and help make those more competitive. The heat races at Indy could be mundane 20-car affairs, but the potential is there to have another race in which the main event has urgency and parity among the drivers and the cars.Well be able to learn something, for sure, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones said about the heats. Thats a long enough run at Indy to really feel out your car some and make some adjustments.Well go into it with the same mentality that we did the last three and work on our stuff and get it better and get it the best we can.Jones enters Indy coming off a second-place finish at New Hampshire in a race won by his teammate Kyle Busch.Camping World Truck Series: Kyle Larson at EldoraThere will be only one Sprint Cup driver taking to the dirt in the Camping World Truck Series race Wednesday at Eldora Speedway in New Weston, Ohio.Kyle Larson, who nearly won the race two years ago, has a ride with GMS Racing.Plenty of drivers with dirt late-model experience will be in the race, including Bobby Pierce, who finished second in the event last year.And there is one other driver with a passion for dirt racing who should definitely excite fans -- Ken Schrader is in a Truck owned by Carlos Contreras.One thing different this year is the feature event will have segments that get longer throughout the race. Instead of a race of segments with 60 laps, 50 laps and then 40 laps, the Eldora race will have segments of 40 laps, 50 laps and then 60 laps. ' ' '