Sparks Get Scare From Leslie but Extend Streak

The WNBA trading deadline is 9 p.m. PDT Monday, and all indications are that the Sparks will play out the 2001 season with the personnel they have.

But they nearly had to alter their thinking Saturday night.

With 2 minutes 37 seconds to play in their 85-79 victory over Seattle before a season-best crowd of 11,519 at Staples Center, the Sparks received a major scare when MVP candidate Lisa Leslie crumpled to the floor after colliding with Storm guard Jamie Redd.

Leslie, in enough pain that tears were in her eyes, suffered a hyperextended right knee and was helped from the court. But she refused to stay on the bench, returning to the game a minute later to help make sure the 19-3 Sparks’ winning streak reached a season-high 10 games.

“I was setting a screen as Jamie was cutting down the lane,” said Leslie, who led the Sparks with 19 points. “She was running fast, and her leg hit mine.

“The doctors told me I will be very sore the next couple of days. But if I can stand, I can play.”

Fortunately for Leslie, the Sparks, who increased their Western Conference lead over second-place Houston to four games, don’t play again until Wednesday. And they have to play the Storm only one more time. Even though Seattle is 8-15, has lost six consecutive games and is last in the West, it has always given the Sparks trouble.

That was the case Saturday. The Sparks never could build on a 40-35 halftime lead, due in part to Redd, who made 10 of 16 shots, and in part to Seattle’s ability to stretch L.A.’s defense and create openings.

The Storm (31 of 64) attempted and made more shots than the Sparks (27 of 59). Seattle wasn’t discouraged by eight blocked shots (four by Leslie), and stayed even with the Sparks on the boards (28-28). The Storm even led, 73-72, after a layup by Redd with 2:53 to play.

Then came the collision.

But the Sparks outscored the Storm, 13-6, over the final 2 1/2 minutes, and improved their home record to 10-0.

Seattle Coach and General Manager Lin Dunn, who spent part of Saturday on the phone discussing potential deals with “about five different GMs,” must decide quickly which way the rest of the Storm’s season will go.

She intimated that the Sparks could be headed for big things in the playoffs.

“I want to give L.A. credit,” Dunn said. “They are very good and down the stretch they were a little bit more talented than we are. They look like a team that’s played together five years. At times down the stretch we looked like a two-year-old team.”

Spark Coach Michael Cooper said his team has to be confident it can handle a situation if Leslie is not there.

“I don’t want Lisa hurt, but I’m glad we had to play at a crucial point without her,” Cooper said. “I think we’re a good enough team, with the players we already brought in such as [Rhonda] Mapp and [Latasha] Byears, that if anything happened [to] one of our marquee players we could roll with it and keep going.

“I was concerned when [Leslie] wanted to go right back in the game without knowing the full extent of the injury. But Lisa is a warrior; she has the heart of a lion, which is something your leader has to have.”

Cooper and the coaches probably should not expect any surprises by the trading deadline.

“At this point there is nothing in the works,” said Spark General Manager Penny Toler. “What could materialize between now and Monday, I don’t know.”

Ann Wauters scored 15 points to help the host Cleveland Rockers defeat the Charlotte Sting, 56-41. It was the Rockers’ sixth straight win and they improved to 11-0 at home. Cleveland (17-5) leads New York by one game in the Eastern Conference. . . . Nykesha Sales had 15 points and 10 rebounds as the host Orlando Miracle beat the Minnesota Lynx, 71-49. Orlando (8-13) moved within one game of Charlotte in the race for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Minnesota (7-13) lost its fourth straight, wasting a 27-point performance by rookie forward Svetlana Abrosimova. . . . Jennifer Gillom scored 18 points and Maria Stepanova added 15 as the Phoenix Mercury beat the Utah Starzz, 59-50, in Phoenix. Gillom had 14 points in the final 17 minutes as the Mercury (9-12) overcame a 12-point deficit to win and move to within 1 1/2 games of idle Portland and a half-game of Utah (9-11) in the race for the fourth playoff berth in the Western Conference. Rookie Marie Ferdinand scored a season-high 19 points for Utah. . . . Yolanda Griffith had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Sacramento Monarchs to a 66-52 victory over the Detroit Shock in Sacramento. Ticha Penicheiro had a season-high 17 points and six assists for the Monarchs (13-9). Astou Ndiaye-Diatta and Jae King each scored 13 points for Detroit (5-15), which shot 30% and lost its fourth consecutive game.