Sun put finishing touches on regular season this afternoon in Los Angeles

Los Angeles — A youthful Connecticut Sun team grew up right before the eyes of its faithful fans this year, not to mention the entire WNBA. And the best news of all? The Sun will play on after the regular season comes to a close following tody's game against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Staples Center (4 p.m., WCCT).

Connecticut (21-12) and Los Angeles (25-8) are still playing for playoff seeding position, but both will enjoy a well-deserved rest following the

regular-season finale. The Sun have a first-round bye and will host a second-round game on Sunday, Sept. 10, at Mohegan Sun Arena, while the defending WNBA champion Sparks, who will finish as the No. 1 or 2 seed depending on today's results, have a double-bye and will host a best-offive semifinal series starting Sept. 12.

The Sun's playoff situation will become clear even before they take the court.

The New York Liberty (also 21-12) can clinch the No. 3 seed (dropping the Sun to No. 4) with a win at the Dallas Wings. That game starts at 2 p.m., and the Liberty hold the tiebreaker over the Sun.

Should New York lose, Connecticut can claim the No. 3 seed by defeating the Sparks.

The Sun will attempt to bounce back from Friday night's 86-66 loss at Phoenix. In that game, Mercury center Britney Griner, who recently returned from injury, dominated inside with 31 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

"When you see Britney Griner play like she did (Friday)," Connecticut coach Curt Miller said, "while you don't like it as an opposing coach, it is fantastic to see.

“There is no one like her in our league. She played fantastic. We didn't have an answer."

It also didn't help that Connecticut all-star center Jonquel Jones was limited to just 20 minutes after picking up three early fouls. She was never a factor, finishing with only five points on 2 of 6 shooting.

"Jonquel is going to be a premiere player in this league for a long time," Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi said. "She got in early foul trouble and it kind of took her out of the game. She's going to be great for a long time; she's really dynamic."

Jones did have nine rebounds, putting her in position to set the WNBA's single-season rebounding mark. She has 393 and needs six against Los Angeles to break the record of 398 set by Tina Charles during her rookie season in 2010.