WNBA Gets Its Dream Finals

New York. Los Angeles.

No matter the subject--sports, politics, fashion or music--when the talk involves these locales, it’s not just a matter of comparing apples to oranges.

Both are the symbols of their geographical coasts, East and West. Both represent outlandish levels of prosperity, population overload and urban angst.

Today’s topic is the WNBA Finals, a best-of-three series that begins tonight in Madison Square Garden, whose patrons haughtily bestow the title “The Mecca of Basketball.”

But the Knicks haven’t won an NBA championship since 1973. And the Liberty, making its fourth trip to the WNBA Finals in six years, has never worn the league crown.

It is the Sparks who are the defending champions, and trying to become the only team besides Houston to win more than one title. The Comets won the first four league championships until the Sparks won last year.

This series would seem to have all the ingredients to raise the WNBA’s profile to new heights. New York and Los Angeles represent the two biggest sports markets in the country. The teams play contrasting styles--the Sparks love to run, the Liberty keeps the game in the half court. They were two of the original eight teams when the WNBA formed in 1997. And they were expected to meet in a championship series long before this.

“In many sports leagues, New York vs. Los Angeles is a dream matchup,” WNBA Commissioner Val Ackerman said. “For us, it’s maybe the true East-West matchup. Had it been a Washington-Utah final, we at the league office would treat it the same. But because of markets and interest that L.A. and New York typically generate, from coaches to players, there are a lot of story lines. And I like every one of them.”

Even the respective coaches expect there will be more attention to this series than others.

“The New York vs. L.A. thing is great for the league,” Spark Coach Michael Cooper said. “I think it will be good for the game, good for the ladies and good for basketball. [The series] heightens the excitement and generates the excitement of what pro basketball is about. This could catapult the league to the next level. If you can continually get the two marquee WNBA teams to meet for the championship, that’s always a plus.”

Said Liberty Coach Richie Adubato: “I think everyone was looking for this series last year, but unfortunately we let Charlotte upset us. But the traditions of the two NBA teams, the history of basketball, everybody wants to be part of this series.”

The Sparks and Liberty split their two regular-season games, the home team winning each time. But that means nothing now, according to New York guard Vickie Johnson.

“The playoffs are another season, and the championship is another season within that season,” Johnson said. “L.A. has grown as a team and New York has grown as a team. We have both jelled.”

But what will sell the series, and the league, is compelling basketball.

The Sparks enter the finals having won seven consecutive games, sweeping Western Conference playoff foes Seattle and Utah in the process. In the four playoff games, the Sparks have averaged 81.3 points, up from their league-best 76.6 average in the regular season. Lisa Leslie has averaged 21 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.25 blocked shots in the playoffs and has returned to the dominant form she had last year when she was the most valuable player of the playoffs.

“We understand Lisa is a great player,” said Adubato, when asked how to defend Leslie. “So we’ve got to change defenses, the same as we do with any star.”

New York’s playoff series against Indiana and Washington both were extended to three games. Although the Liberty has averaged 74.7 points a game, up six points from its regular-season average, New York depends more on its in-your-face defense to win the game.

Tamika Whitmore, who averaged 12.7 points during the regular season, has carried the New York offense at 17.8 points in the playoffs.

“I see both of us as two giants, no one stronger than the other,” said the Sparks’ DeLisha Milton. “It will boil down to who wants it the most. We match up well, a kind of mirror image of each other. They have a good inside game, we have a good inside game. We have a good outside game, so do they. They have a good coach, we have a better one. Now it’s who gets the loose balls, controls the rebounds, and is mentally into the game from start to finish.”

Along with overcoming their finals history, the Liberty players also have to keep out of their minds the notion the front office will consider breaking up the team should they fail to win the title.

The Sparks’ Sophia Witherspoon, who began her WNBA career with New York in 1997, said she sees that happening.

“They know this is the last shot for them, which is why they’re trying so hard to get it,” Witherspoon said of the Liberty’s title drive. “But our confidence level is as high as it’s ever been. I think we see [the title] now, we believe it, and there’s no stopping us.”

The Liberty players beg to differ.

“I don’t think of it as ‘we’re due’ or ‘we deserve it’ because every season is different,” said Sue Wicks, who--like Johnson and Teresa Weatherspoon--is an original Liberty player. “We have a great opportunity, and we need to seize that. But it’s a three-game series, both teams have a lot of heart and the best team is going to win.”