Sparks Rebound Into the Playoffs
The loss to Utah on Monday that ended the Sparks’ WNBA record 18-game winning streak caused Coach Michael Cooper to check out of the team hotel in Salt Lake City during the night and go to another one.
“The phone kept ringing,” Cooper said. “People kept telling me this [loss] was a blessing, that it would be all right. I didn’t want to hear it.”
Sleep would come easier to Cooper after the Sparks wrapped up the 2001 regular season Tuesday with a hard-fought 67-58 victory over the Portland Fire, before 10,795 at the Rose Garden.
Mwadi Mabika led Los Angeles with 21 points, the last three coming on a 21-footer with 29.6 seconds to play that made the score 65-58 and sealed the outcome.
“She misses that shot, no telling what happens,” Cooper said.
Lisa Leslie, fighting through constant double-teams, had another forgettable night shooting (five of 21), but she did score 14 points and had 21 rebounds.
Although they feel they are a better team than last year--and better prepared for the playoffs that start for them Saturday at Houston--the 28-4 Sparks have the same record as the 2000 squad.
That’s fine with Cooper.
“Tonight got us back on track after that tough loss in Utah,” Cooper said. “We are definitely focused and mentally ready to start the playoffs. This is what the players have been waiting for. The coaching staff wants to take it a game at a time, but the players were ready to get the regular season over with.”
The Sparks admitted it was hard to play the last two games.
“Especially on the road,” Ukari Figgs said. “It’s good they’re over. Because of the lead that we had [in the standings] they didn’t mean anything. But at the same time, every game means something to our team. But now we can focus on the playoffs.”
It was also important to the players that “everybody’s attitude was positive after losing to Utah,” said Rhonda Mapp, whose three-point play with 4:01 to play effectively blunted the last meaningful Fire rally.
“The way everyone responded [to losing]; nobody let down and had good energy around us. And it carried over into the game tonight.”
The Fire, which started out 8-4, ends the season with an 11-21 record, 15 losses in its last 17 games, and 10 consecutive defeats. The last Portland victory was July 24, against New York.
“Looking back, perhaps that quick start might not have been the best thing,” Portland Coach Linda Hargrove said. “It really raised expectations” of the second-year franchise.
Portland fought gamely all evening against the bigger, more talented Sparks.
Forward Sophia Witherspoon did her best to bring about the upset. She couldn’t make anything but three-pointers--one of her running jump shots hit the side of the backboard--but she made five of them (in nine attempts) to lead the Fire with 15 points.
Her last basket put Portland up, 47-41, with 9:45 left in the second half. With the game on the brink of slipping away, the Sparks took a timeout to compose themselves. Then they rattled off an 11-1 spurt to move ahead for good, 52-48.
“Defensively we were losing track of Witherspoon, who was hitting some big shots,” Cooper said. “We had to go back and focus on who their shooters were when we went into our [2-3] zone.”
“We also had to be more selective about our transition game. We do want to run, but we didn’t have the fresh legs they had, so we had to be more opportunistic.”
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In Tuesday’s WNBA games: The Phoenix Mercury beat Houston, 56-38, at Phoenix as the Comets scored their lowest point total in franchise history. . . . Elena Tornikidou scored 16 points as the Detroit Shock beat the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Rockers, 76-65, at Auburn Hills, Mich. . . . The New York Liberty clinched second place in the Eastern Conference by defeating the Washington Mystics, 71-56, at New York. . . . The Charlotte Sting extended its franchise-record winning streak to seven games with a 48-41 victory over the Miami Sol at Miami. . . . Katie Douglas had 18 points and five steals as the Orlando Miracle overcame a 13-point deficit and beat the Indiana Fever, 78-72, at Orlando. . . . Yolanda Griffith had 19 points and 16 rebounds to help the Sacramento Monarchs beat the Seattle Storm, 72-62, at Seattle.
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WNBA PLAYOFFS
Sparks vs. Houston
* Game 1, Saturday at Houston, 1 p.m. (Channel 4).
* Game 2, Monday at Staples Center, 7 p.m. (ESPN).
* Game 3 (if necessary), Tuesday at Staples Center, TBA.
Other first-round pairings
Sacramento vs. Utah
Cleveland vs. Charlotte
New York vs. Miami