Sparks Pull All Stops on Comets
The Sparks have inhabited the Great Western Forum for only three years. That’s just long enough, it turns out, to preserve its memory the right way.
At the very least, Thursday night’s 75-60 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-three Western Conference finals against the Houston Comets was a worthy effort in what could be the last meaningful game hosted by the building.
Then again, it could be the first step toward winning one more championship in Inglewood.
The record will show that the Lakers and Kings crawled out of the Forum like lonely dogs when they played their final games of consequence there. The Lakers did it with their second consecutive playoff sweep; the Kings couldn’t even make it to the postseason.
They disgraced the legacy of the banners hanging in the Forum and the retired jerseys that helped put them on the walls.
Now that they’re heading downtown to the Staples Center--with the Sparks looking ready to follow them--the opportunities for some type of redemption have dwindled.
As in, down to one night.
“I’ve thought about it,” Spark center Lisa Leslie said. “It was part of the motivation for the team.
“I said to some of my teammates, ‘This could be our last game played here.’ ”
If you’re going to go out, this is the way to do it. A defense that cut off Houston’s slashing stars before they could get to the basket. An offense that made the extra pass enough to record 24 assists. An aggression that resulted in a 30-21 advantage in rebounds. An all-out effort that brought “I Love L.A.” through the sound system one more time after the game.
We’ll excuse the late-arriving crowd of 10,009 because of the ESPN-dictated 5:30 p.m. start.
And we’ll excuse the 8-0 deficit the Sparks created for themselves because, as Coach Orlando Woolridge said, “We’re like one of those old cars; it takes us a minute to get started.”
He said he wasn’t worried because the team was playing good defense, and that held up for most of the game.
The Comets’ Big Three of Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson combined to score 42 of Houston’s 60 points, but Cooper’s 12 points were almost half her regular-season scoring average.
The Sparks’ contributions ranged from Leslie’s 23 points to the six points, three rebounds and two assists posted by reserve Tamecka Dixon in 12 high-energy minutes.
“They’ve got the big guns, we’ve got more guns,” Woolridge said.
Now the question is whether or not they have enough firepower to win in Houston. The WNBA is shooting itself in the foot with this playoff format that forces the team with the better record to open the series on the road before playing the final two games at home. Maybe they’ll fix it down the road, but for now the Sparks used the setup to their advantage.
Finishing the task will be difficult. They are 0-6 in Houston and the Comets are 5-0 in home playoff games.
“If you’re playing well you can win in any condition, any where,” Woolridge said.
We’ll see. Excuse the end-of-the-’90s paranoia creeping in, but this is the last chance to get things straightened out before the years start beginning with “2.” The Forum hasn’t hosted a major sports championship since the Kings made the Stanley Cup finals in 1993. No, you can’t say the WNBA is on the same level as the NHL and the NBA. You also can’t say the other teams haven’t had their chances--many more chances, with nothing but disappointments.
“That’s why I think it’s great that it’s women’s basketball,” Leslie said. “We have the perfect opportunity to make something special happen before the millennium.”
Leslie feels a well-earned sense of pride in the progress of her sport. But at this point the town and the building are so desperate for a winner it could jump on the bandwagon if an indoor cricket team were competing for a title.
Leslie moved to Inglewood in 1985. Laker guard Byron Scott spoke at her high school two years later and won a fan.
“That’s when I fell in love with the team,” Leslie said.
It’s not too late to become smitten with the Sparks. Sometimes love sneaks up and smacks you in the head. In a town filled with teams that spent most of this decade breaking hearts, the Sparks are tempting us with a summer fling--and a proper way to kiss the Forum goodbye.
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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com.