Dixon Gets a Cortisone Shot for Her Ailing Foot

Tamecka Dixon has spent the last few weeks trying to battle through a painful right heel. She injured the plantar fascia, a connective band of soft tissue below the arch and between the heel and foot.

Usually rest is the only cure, but there is little rest during the playoffs.

So Dixon took a cortisone shot in the heel Tuesday. She will not practice for 48 hours, then she’ll work out with the Sparks in Sacramento on Thursday.

Dixon hopes this can end, for awhile, the current system of practicing lightly and saving herself mainly for the games.

“The only thing suffering is my shot,” said Dixon, a guard who averaged 13 points and shot 46% (11 of 24) in the first-round WNBA playoff series against Houston.

“The consistency with which we shoot in practice, I can’t replace that because I’m not practicing. I just try to get to the gym earlier and shoot about 200-300 shots before the game.

“Shooting is all about repetition, and with me not practicing much, that has suffered the most.”

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The Sparks held a relaxed practice at Staples Center Tuesday, watching videotape, working on a couple of plays, then going through various shooting drills.

“We wanted to do more thinking about Sacramento today than [actual preparation],” assistant coach Glenn McDonald said.

And the Monarchs, who finished second in the Western Conference and swept third-place Utah in their first-round matchup, are giving the Sparks plenty to think about.

McDonald said Sacramento neutralized Utah’s big front line, led by 7-foot-2 center Margo Dydek, by attacking the Starzz straight ahead instead of trying to play around them.

“They took the ball to the basket; they didn’t just settle for a lot of outside shots,” McDonald said. “And once the ball went up they all crashed the boards to get two or three attempts. They also tried to run the ball.”

Monarch center Yolanda Griffith had a big series against Utah, averaging 29 points and 13 rebounds. She is going to demand a large chunk of the Sparks’ attention on defense.

At present, McDonald said, DeLisha Milton will draw the defensive assignment on Griffith, although Lisa Leslie will also spend time guarding Griffith.

“We try to put [Milton] on the [opponent’s] most agile post players, and she’s done a good job,” McDonald said. “She accepts the role of trying to be a defensive stopper on the post players.”

But the Sparks can’t pay so much attention to Griffith that they ignore other Monarch threats such as Edna Campbell and Ruthie Bolton-Holifield.

“And Tangela Smith can also create havoc,” McDonald said. “People underestimate her. But she’s got the long arms, and a very good turnaround jump shot.”

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The only disappointment for the Sparks after eliminating Houston Monday was the size of the crowd at Staples Center.

Those who came to the game were loud enough. There just weren’t enough of them--8,730.

Even Houston Coach Van Chancellor took a parting shot at the game’s turnout.

“The real shame,” Chancellor said, “is that the Sparks are as good as they are and only 8,000 people come out to see a great team play.

On Tuesday Milton said she was “baffled” by the turnout.

“We’ve given the city everything it could ask for, except a title,” she said. “We haven’t lost a game at home this year, had a long winning streak.

“We’ve given [Los Angeles] a winning atmosphere and we still can’t get the support.”

Spark officials--who were expecting between 10,000 and 11,000 Monday--said nearly all of the game’s tickets were sold. Those tickets bought by corporate sponsors were given to charitable organizations to be passed out as donations.

And while those tickets were counted in the attendance, they did not translate into live bodies in the seats.

The Sparks’ largest crowd this season was 11,819 for their game against Sacramento July 25.