Sparks Take Deep Breath Against Sting
“Bring on the Comets,” they seemed to say--but how about some sleep first?
That seemed to be the mood in the Sparks’ locker room Sunday, after Los Angeles was the survivor in a matchup of two exhausted WNBA teams at the Great Western Forum.
The Sparks’ 70-62 victory over Charlotte not only primed them for the league’s three-time champions Tuesday at the Forum, but it bumped L.A. into second place in the WNBA’s Western Conference.
The Comets (9-1) knocked Minnesota (6-3) down a peg by beating the Lynx on Sunday while the Sparks moved into second at 6-2 with their second consecutive win.
Before an announced crowd of 4,847, both clubs showed the effects of playing a second game within 22 hours. The Sparks started their Sunday with 4 a.m. wake-up calls at their Portland, Ore., hotel. They had beaten the Fire the night before. The Sting had lost in Sacramento on Saturday night.
It was Charlotte’s third consecutive loss. Coach T.R. Dunn had to make do without one of his top players, Tracy Reid, who remained in Sacramento “for personal reasons.” Reid was unhappy over not playing at Sacramento, club sources said, but is expected to rejoin the team soon.
Coach Michael Cooper said the Sparks showed the effects of their back-to-back games, but he wasn’t complaining about their performance.
“Under the circumstances [the team left Portland on a 6:10 a.m. flight], I thought it was a great effort,” he said.
“You like to see your team play at its maximum, but I saw some good things out there.
“I like to think we play up to the caliber of the opponent, so I look for us to rise to the occasion against Houston.”
Charlotte never really threatened to overhaul the Sparks Sunday, but their rookie center, 6-foot-6, 240-pound Summer Erb, might have ignited a comeback if she had more support.
In 21 minutes she had 21 points, sinking soft shots inside and making seven of nine free throws. She also had two stare-downs after collisions with Lisa Leslie and Clarisse Machanguana.
Mwadi Mabika had her second consecutive high-scoring game for the Sparks. Her 21 points included three-for-four shooting from three-point range. She also had four assists and two steals in 34 minutes. Her shot still isn’t what it was at the end of last season--she missed two open layups in the first half--but, as Cooper pointed out, she’s creating great looks.
“She’s really working hard at getting open,” Cooper said. “Her shot will come around.”
Said Mabika: “I’m trying to relax out there because sometimes I force shots.”
Leslie (20 points) said Mabika, acquired as a 19-year-old member of the Zaire (now Congo) Olympic team in 1997, is getting a crash course in practice on what she missed by not playing college basketball.
“[Assistant] coach [Marianne] Stanley works with her on moves she would have learned in college,” Leslie said.
“Mwadi is a tough player with a lot of talent, so we ask a lot of her.”
The Sting led only in the opening minutes. Mabika scored twice in less than a minute to give Los Angeles a 19-8 lead, then Allison Feaster came off the bench to give the Sparks a lift.
In slightly more than two minutes, the 5-9 third-year pro from Harvard scored on three consecutive putbacks, the third one by following her own missed three-point shot.
Charlotte didn’t come closer than six points in the second half.