Sparks Ride Out a Rough Storm

Are the Sparks ready for the WNBA playoffs?

If they are, how come they keep making the worst team in the league look like--well, like the Sparks? Or the Houston Comets?

The Sparks (28-3) won their 12th consecutive game with a 60-52 victory over the Seattle Storm before 9,936 at KeyArena on Tuesday night, but not until the Storm (6-25) had dragged them into overtime.

It’s the second time that’s happened at Seattle this summer for Michael Cooper’s club. On June 13, the Sparks lost an overtime game here, 69-59.

So how come the Sparks beat the Houston Comets three times with more ease than Seattle, a club that recently lost three starters because of injuries?

“The one thing we didn’t want to do was give up easy transition baskets, to make sure they didn’t ram it down our throats,” Seattle Coach Lin Dunn said.

“L.A. is a very, very fine team and I’m happy that we were able to cause them some problems.”

The Sparks’ defense seemed up to the task, sending Seattle’s offense into single-digit seconds on the shot clock 16 times, but Dunn said that was more by design.

“We wanted to hold on to the ball as long as possible,” she said. “L.A. can’t score if we have the basketball.”

Cooper seemed happy with the effort, if not the execution at times.

“It was the kind of game where we just had to keep marching forward, play hard down the stretch and just get the win, no matter what,” he said.

“They’re a scrappy, no-quit team, kind of like Minnesota.

“I told them at the end to keep playing hard, that they’d get their chance to win it.”

The Sparks missed their chance in regulation, after Lisa Leslie (15 points, 9 rebounds) made two free throws for a 50-48 lead with 12.5 seconds left. But Simone Edwards scored inside with 2.3 seconds left for a 50-50 regulation tie.

In overtime, Tamecka Dixon, Ukari Figgs and Clarisse Machanguana--playing for Leslie after she fouled out--quickly put Los Angeles up, 56-52. Figgs made four consecutive free throws in the last 15.5 seconds to secure the victory.

The Sparks outshot Seattle, 41% to 33%, and outrebounded the Storm, 41-30, yet found themselves in a close game.

“They played us very well,” DeLisha Milton said. “They beat our butts the last time we were up here and they obviously wanted to do it again.”

Milton had seven rebounds, only five in regulation, in 40 minutes. Cooper said Seattle boxed her out admirably.

“They were committed to boxing Milton out but you can’t box everyone out and that’s why [Mabika] Mwadi had some huge rebounds in the stretch,” he said.

Mabika had only four points, but 12 rebounds.

For a six-minute stretch in the second half, it appeared the Sparks were ready to bury the Storm, going from a 39-38 lead to 46-40, most of that run on great inside drives by Dixon, who had a Spark-high 17 points. But Seattle crept back to 46-46 and it was a two-point game to the regulation horn.

Seattle’s Michelle Edwards had a game-high 20 points.

The Sparks, the WNBA’s No. 2 free-throw shooting team, didn’t attempt a free throw in the first half but were 12 for 15 from the line in the second half and overtime.

*

PLAYOFFS

FIRST ROUND

Sparks vs.

Phoenix

Fri., 6 p.m. at Pho.

Sun., 2:30 at L.A.

Tue., TBA at L.A.*

* if necessary