WNBA PLAYOFFS : Sparks Still Flying High After Win

The Sparks, 2-0 in the WNBA playoffs, will be two victories from the WNBA championship if they reach 3-0 this afternoon.

Easy to say, harder to do.

The challenge for Coach Orlando Woolridge’s team is to beat the Houston Comets at Compaq Center, where 16,285 will gather in an attempt to help boost the Comets’ two-season home record to 33-2.

In the league’s three seasons, the Sparks are 0-6 at Houston.

Yet the Sparks, who have had a stunning late-season turnaround, seem fully prepared.

They’ve played their best basketball in the last three halves, beginning with the 50-26 second half Tuesday against Sacramento in a 71-58 victory in the first round of the playoffs. They followed that with a 75-60 win over Houston Thursday.

The Sparks were a loose, happy bunch Saturday afternoon. In contrast, the Comets’ Cynthia Cooper called her team’s practice “tense.”

Apparently still “riding the wave”--Woolridge’s term--from Thursday’s victory, the Sparks watched an edited video of the game on their bus ride to practice and cheered each L.A. basket.

Woolridge and assistant Michael Cooper tried to run a tough workout, but there was more laughter than serious faces.

“We need to triple what we did Thursday to win this one,” Woolridge told the Sparks, trying to set a tone.

“You’ve waited all your lives to win a championship. Well, here you are. You’ve got to raise the bar tomorrow--I’m serious.”

But the hallmarks of the practice, no matter how often the coach tried to inject some gravity, were more cheers and demonstrations of exuberance.

Comet Coach Van Chancellor said Lisa Leslie’s emergence as a three-point shooter (42% in the regular season), has changed the defensive challenge for the two-time defending champions.

“If Lisa’s hitting that outside shot, you got real problems,” he said. “It makes DeLisha Milton that much tougher, because if you guard Lisa out there, then Milton’s got that 15-foot shot of her’s someplace.”

Woolridge’s worry is Houston making frequent visits to the free-throw line.

The Comets are the WNBA’s best free-throw-shooting team (82%), and the four cornerstone players--Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson and Janeth Arcain--shoot a combined 85%.

Around the WNBA

Chamique Holdsclaw of the Washington Mystics was named the league’s rookie of the year.

Western Finals

Sparks lead best-of-three series, 1-0

* Game 1: Sparks 75, Houston 60

* Game 2: Today at Houston, 1 p.m.

* Game 3: Monday at Houston, 7 p.m. *

*--if necessary