Los Angeles Sparks (10-17) vs. Indiana Fever (17-9)
7 PM ET on NBA TV

Two franchises with a history of success meet in Indiana on Wednesday night with both having recently returned to playoff form.

The Sparks and Fever are the hottest teams in their respective conferences, having gone 7-3 and 9-1 in their last 10 games, respectively.

Here’s what you need to know about Wednesday’s national TV matchup:

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Fever Pitch
This was supposed to be a year of transition in Indiana after the retirement of legendary head coach Lin Dunn. But her replacement, Stephanie White, has not missed a beat, and has the Fever’s offense humming as much as its ever been.

Indiana owns the league’s best record since the All-Star break (9-1) and has beaten opponents by an average of 14.1 points in their nine post-All-Star wins. The team ranks second in Offensive Rating (103.5 points per 100 possessions) per Basketball-Reference, first in three-point shooting percentage (36.6%) and first in turnovers forced per game (16.2).

 MORE: Surging Fever Taking Care of Business on Both Ends

Parker Producing at Historic Pace
It’s a good time to watch Candace Parker play basketball. She’s doing things on the court that no player in WNBA history has done.

Parker enters Wednesday’s game averaging 18.4 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.9 blocks. Each of those numbers would rank in the top four in the league had she played enough games to qualify for the leaderboard (Parker rested during the first seven weeks of the season).

It’s her play-making at the forward spot that is unmatched: No WNBA player has ever averaged a double-double while tallying four assists per game, let alone six, and just two players have ever averaged at least 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the same season (Nikki Teasley, 2003 and Lindsay Whalen, 2008).

MORE: Parker Filling the Box Score

Playoff Positioning at Stake
The matchup between greats Candace Parker and Tamika Catchings will be a treat, but this game has huge implications for both teams as a whole.

The Sparks have ridden a roller-coaster season to the No. 4 seed in the West and sit three games up on the Seattle Storm for that final playoff spot with seven games remaining. If they get hot and the Tulsa Shock go cold, L.A. could still climb to the No. 3 seed and avoid a matchup with the 19-9 Minnesota Lynx in the first round.

The Fever have risen all the way to the No. 2 seed in the East, just one game behind the conference-leading New York Liberty after defeating the Liberty on Sunday. But Indiana is also just one game up on the No. 3 seed (Chicago Sky) and two games up on the No. 4 seed (Washington Mystics), so every win and loss counts heavily in the standings.