When Lisa Leslie thought back to the first game in WNBA history, it reminded her a lot of Sunday’s 30th season celebration. On June 21, 1997, she and her former Los Angeles Sparks teammates had brunch, signed autographs and posed for a photoshoot. On Sunday evening, Leslie even took a ceremonial tip-off against the New York Liberty just as she did in that first game.The one thing she wished she could have changed wasn’t the 16 points or the dunk she got hung on because the enormity of the day had taken her legs out; it was the result. And 29 years after Los Angeles lost the WNBA’s opening game to the New York Liberty, the Sparks found an iconic way to celebrate that inaugural moment, winning the 30th anniversary game 98-97 on a buzzer-beater by one of their franchise greats, Nneka Ogwumike.It’s been a tough decade in Los Angeles, one that hasn’t seen much winning since the franchise brought home its most recent title in 2016. That the Sparks and Liberty have even persisted through the past 30 years is a minor miracle, considering both franchises were on the brink of contraction during the 2010s. Instead, both have survived to celebrate this moment.Watch This: Sparks complete 17-point comeback at buzzer to shock Liberty Legendary players from L.A. and New York’s early rosters spoke about what Sunday’s milestone meant and what they hoped current players remembered about them. DeLisha Milton-Jones, who played for the Sparks from 1999-2004, said: “I would love for them to attach themselves to the history of it all to understand where they came from, to understand where they need to take it.”Ogwumike has been involved in half of the league’s seasons, a connector from Milton-Jones to the current era of the Sparks. She understands what the franchise can be, and what depths it can fall to. Leslie and her generation set a standard for L.A., even overextending themselves to do so. The responsibility of Ogwumike and everyone who dons a Sparks jersey now couldn’t be clearer, especially with all of those legends in attendance.RankTeamPrevious rank1Las Vegas12Minnesota23Atlanta54New York35Golden State 46Dallas77Indiana 68Los Angeles89Washington 1010Portland 911Toronto 1112Chicago1313Phoenix1214Seattle1415Connecticut15Trending upAtlanta DreamThe Dream perked up offensively last week, led by two of Angel Reese’s most efficient offensive performances of the season. Reese has mostly ditched the stretch five experiment and excised 3-pointers from her shot diet — it helps that Naz Hillmon is hitting from long range again and providing spacing at the four — and she’s sticking to the paint. Reese shot 15 of 28 in a two-game set against the Indiana Fever and earned 16 free-throw attempts.Atlanta is now tied for the league lead (with the Minnesota Lynx) in offensive rating (112.6 points per 100 possessions) and ranks second overall in net rating. Reese’s 2-point percentage is still below water at 47 percent for the season, lower than her mark of 47.8 percent with the Chicago Sky last season, but it’s ticked up significantly this month as she has reoriented herself on the court.