Sparks Finally Get in a Zone and Put Rockers Behind 8-Ball

It wasn’t a walk in the park, but the Sparks ran their WNBA winning streak to eight games Saturday at the Great Western Forum.

Overcoming an effective Cleveland zone defense that stymied Michael Cooper’s team for much of the game, Los Angeles played the final 10 minutes at a much higher energy level, resulting in a 75-67 win.

Cooper was happy to have seen and survived the best 3-2 zone the Sparks (12-2) have encountered this summer.

“Cleveland is a tough, gutsy team and that was the first time we’d seen that kind of pressure,” he said.

“But that’s good. The more tough defenses we see, the better off we’ll be in the playoffs.”

Forward DeLisha Milton (14 points, 12 rebounds) was more optimistic.

“I think we showed the results of a very tough training camp, the way we were able to play harder than they did in the last 10 minutes,” she said.

“Coach Cooper worked our butts off in training camp. And he teaches us that no matter how many shots you miss, the defense must always be sound, and that’s why we will win the championship.”

It was a grinding, tense final 2 minutes 45 seconds, after Cleveland (7-7) caught the Sparks at 64-64.

Twice Los Angeles seemed ready to put the Rockers away, with a 21-10 lead early and later at 64-56 with 4:32 to go. Yet both times Cleveland reeled the Sparks back in and made them play maximum basketball in the stretch.

Allison Feaster came off the bench late in the second half to energize Los Angeles. When it was 50-50, she drilled a three-point shot from the corner, then got another two minutes later to provide a 58-52 cushion.

Cleveland lost its top scorer when Eva Nemcova suffered what was later called a sprain of her left knee with 4:52 left in the first half. She sat out the second half. Cleveland’s Chasity Melvin had a team-high 18 points.

Afterward, Rocker Coach Dan Hughes talked about a defensive plan that almost ended the Spark streak. Much of it was Rocker points Suzie McConnell Serio and her backup, Helen Darling, pressuring Spark point guards Ukari Figgs and Nicky McCrimmon in the backcourt, often taking six to eight seconds off the shot clock.

“We wanted to slow them down, keep the ball out of the paint, and I feel we did a good job of that,” Hughes said.

“We’ve used the 3-2 zone several times so far, but never for 30 minutes, like today.

“L.A. is such a great transition team, you just have to slow them down to win.”

Los Angeles’ offensive plan down the stretch was spelled out during a timeout in the late going, after Lisa Leslie had missed a jump shot.

Cooper looked at her in the huddle and said: “Would you please just go to the basket?”

Leslie wound up with 22 points, making nine of 16 shots.

Cleveland’s defense seemed almost too good to be true, Milton said.

“The zone makes it so tempting to take those jumpers because they’re so wide open,” she said.

“It’s like you’re a kid with two cavities in a candy store and someone’s telling you not to eat candy. But once we started getting the ball inside, we were OK.”

The crowd was announced as 6,828, but seemed closer to 4,800.