WNBA Stars Just Wanna Have Fun

So you expected a basketball game at a lovefest?

No one at America West Arena saw one Monday, but that wasn’t why 17,717 came to see the WNBA’s second All-Star game.

They came for laughs, they came to cheer their heroine, Brandy Reed (who responded with a one-for-11 shooting night), and they came because they love these players and never mind that the teams combined for 38 turnovers.

In a condensed league schedule where so many games are do-or-you’re-done struggles, going down to the final minute, maybe this was really supposed to be a two-day Phoenix party.

How loose was it?

More than once, players were carrying on conversations with fans while the ball was in play. And in every minute of the game, at least one player was laughing about something.

At the finish of the 73-61 Western Conference victory, Houston’s Tina Thompson (13 points, 11 rebounds) won the MVP award, which only shows that it’s helpful to go to USC if you want to win the MVP. Another former Trojan, Lisa Leslie, won it last year.

The Sparks’ Leslie had a game-high 16 points and six rebounds Monday. She contributed to an overwhelming West dominance on the boards, 60-40. Sacramento’s Yolanda Griffith and Utah’s Natalie Williams had 10 rebounds each. Griffith and the Sparks’ Mwadi Mabika added 10 points each.

It was enough to make New York’s Richie Adubato, the East coach, imsound grateful his club trailed only 57-53 with 9:21 to go.

“We shot 30%, 10% from the arc, they killed us on the boards--and we had a chance at the end,” he said.

“When we were down four, [Nikki] McCray had an open three that didn’t fall. I thought that was a big play.”

Houston’s Van Chancellor, after saying he had “just stayed out of the players’ way and had fun watching,” admitted to making a political move with 1:05 left.

With the West up, 68-61, and the crowd chanting “Brand-ee! Brand-ee!” Chancellor sent in the Mercury forward to even louder cheers.

“We [the Houston Comets] gotta come back here and play Phoenix,” he said. “I was trying to win some of those people over.”

Of the lack of zeal with which the game was played, Reed said: “I think everyone understood this was an All-Star game, that it wasn’t maybe the most competitive basketball game.”

The crowd showed its appreciation of Reed, who was a late addition to the West roster, during the introductions, giving the only Mercury representative a 20-second ovation and cheering her every move.

“The fans here were so supportive of me this week, I definitely felt the pressure of wanting so badly to perform well for them,” she said.

Mabika made two of three three-point attempts and DeLisha Milton of the Sparks had four points and four rebounds.

Notes

Houston’s Cynthia Cooper, who did not suit up because of a sprained ankle, says she will next play Thursday at Cleveland, although Coach Van Chancellor isn’t as optimistic she can return that quickly.