Sparks’ Effort Is Just Perfect

Several days ago, after a Spark practice, the team’s ex-Purdue guard, Ukari Figgs, was asked if she was ready to square off Thursday night against her former Boilermaker teammate, Katie Douglas.

“The question is,” Figgs said, grinning, “is she ready for us?”

She wasn’t. Nor were her teammates.

And so far, no one else is in the WNBA. The Sparks beat Orlando, 84-68, before 9,077 at Staples Center.

The Sparks (6-0) remain the league’s only unbeaten team. Orlando dropped to 1-5 with its second loss to the Sparks.

Figgs was the senior point guard on Purdue’s 1999 NCAA championship team and was a third-round pick by the Sparks after that season. Douglas was a sophomore forward on that team and was the 10th pick of the Miracle in this spring’s draft.

The two chatted occasionally during lulls in the game, and once, in the second half, Douglas held Figgs’ arm and spoke softly.

“She hit me in the mouth accidentally, and she apologized,” Figgs said. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

The Sparks led from horn-to-horn, even with Lisa Leslie sitting for most of the first half with three fouls. She finished with 17 points and four assists and launched her team on an early run after the break.

Building on a 37-29 halftime lead, Leslie began by scoring inside, making two free throws and making a baseline 12-footer, less than three minutes into the half.

That gave Los Angeles a 43-33 lead on a night when Orlando played a spirited, full-court pressing defense, got nine second-half steals but never could catch the Sparks.

Spark Coach Michael Cooper seemed most happy that his team held firm with Leslie on the bench.

“That’s why we got Rhonda [Mapp] and LaTasha [Byears],” he said.

“We can do a lot with those two and they take a lot of pressure off Lisa when she’s in the game and also help us a lot when she’s not.”

The Miracle is struggling primarily because its missing arguably its best player, point guard Shannon Johnson, sidelined by a knee injury. She’s expected back later this month.

“Orlando is trying to hold the ship afloat until they get Shannon back, but I thought they played us very tough tonight,” Cooper said.

The Sparks may have acquired Mapp (6 feet 2, 190 pounds) and Byears (5-11, 205) for down-low muscle, but Leslie herself is noticeably stronger this summer and a play occurred with 9:47 that clearly demonstrated it.

Under the Spark basket, she collided hard with Orlando’s Brooke Wyckoff (6-1, 185) and Nykesha Sales (6-0, 185) yet recovered in mid-air and scored on the play, for a 58-48 lead.

“I’ve been working with a new strength coach, Adam Friedman, for about six months and I really do feel stronger,” she said.

Leslie, in the first half, registered only two points and no rebounds.

The Sparks seemed close to a breakout midway through the first half. Backup point guard Nicky McCrimmon made an 18-footer from the corner, then converted two layups off steals--all three scores coming within 23 seconds.

Then LaTasha Byears got a free throw and the Sparks led, 24-16, with 7:58 left.

It was a two-point game until Mwadi Mabika got two free throws with 3:54 left in the half for a 30-26 lead. In the last two minutes, Byears, Dixon and DeLisha Milton all scored in a 7-1 run before halftime.