Sparks Get Biggest Help From Defense

When it was over, and Spark Coach Orlando Woolridge was explaining how his club had achieved a surprisingly one-sided, 75-60 playoff victory over the Houston Comets on Thursday, he put it this way:

“Basketball coaches tend to speak in cliches when talking about their defenses, but the fact is we won this game with tough, hard-nosed defense.”

OK, give him that. But there was a little creativity too.

Woolridge’s assistant, Michael Cooper, said the defensive game plan was based on shutting down one of Houston’s three big guns--Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes or Tina Thompson.

“To beat Houston, you have to shut down one of those three,” Cooper said.

Actually, the Sparks held Cooper and Swoopes below their season averages. Cooper, who leads the league at 22.1 points a game, scored only 12; Swoopes, who averages 18.3, scored 17.

Defensively, the Sparks used Mwadi Mabika and sometimes La’Keshia Frett as a designated stopper to double-team Cooper or Swoopes in the Western Conference best-of-three opener.

Houston is vulnerable to such a defense because the Comets’ point guard, Sonja Henning, isn’t much of a scoring threat.

“We played it off Henning, with a lot of switching,” Woolridge said Friday.

“When Cooper or Swoopes got the ball, bang--Mwadi or La’Keshia were there. It’s basically what every team in the NBA did when playing Michael Jordan.

“Our emphasis was in keeping Cooper out of the paint, and I think we did that.”

Cooper was four for 16 from the field and managed only one of her signature baskets, the twisting drive down the lane..

The Comets shot 41.2% from the field, their lowest in a playoff game.

Now, Woolridge said, all that remains is to feed off Game 1 Sunday afternoon at Houston’s Compaq Center.

“Thursday put us on an emotional high, and what we want to do now is ride that wave,” he said.

WNBA Notes

In the regular season, the Sparks led the league in scoring (76.5 points a game), defensive rebounding (22.6) and assists (18.1). Houston led in field-goal percentage (44%) and free-throw percentage (81.8%). . . . Gordana Grubin has contributed major baskets to ignite or sustain Spark scoring bursts in the two playoff games and has 16 assists. . . . Lisa Leslie, on Sunday’s game: “The pressure’s on Houston now. We have nothing to lose.”

Western Conference Finals

Sparks lead best-of-three

series, 1-0

GAME 1

* Sparks 75, Houston 60

GAME 2

* Sunday at Houston, 1 p.m.

GAME 3

* Monday at Houston, 7 p.m. *

*--if necessary