No Leslie Is No Problem for Stingy Sparks
The Sparks’ problems started Tuesday morning, when Lisa Leslie was too ill to participate in the shoot-around. Coach Michael Cooper said his star center was resting, and he hoped she would be able to play against the Seattle Storm.
But when Leslie arrived at KeyArena for the game, she hadn’t shaken a flu virus. She was told not to play and watch from the bench. She is considered day to day.
Still the Sparks had few problems with the Storm, rolling to an 80-68 victory before 6,410.
To compensate for their ailing star, the Sparks (8-1) stayed as close as possible the first 30 minutes--including its 38-37 halftime lead--before shutting down the Storm in the last 10 minutes. Seattle (4-5) shot only 37.5%, but more importantly made only six of their last 18 shots and had seven of their 18 turnovers in that final stretch.
Meanwhile the Sparks, who shot 44.1% and got 23 points from Mwadi Mabika and 20 from DeLisha Milton, closed out Seattle with 15-8 run in the final five minutes.
Lauren Jackson had 23 points for Seattle (and two for the Sparks when she accidentally put a rebound back into the Los Angeles basket), and Sue Bird had 12. But Bird had all of her points in the first half, made only three of 10 shots, and had more turnovers (six) than assists (five).
“I keep telling people we’re not a one-woman team,” Cooper said. “We believe that we’re not a one-woman team. We proved it tonight.
“Defensively I thought it was our best game since Houston. It was something we needed to get back to. The past few games we’ve been trying to win with just offense, but you need to play both.”
Echoing their coach were Spark guards Nikki McCrimmon and Tamecka Dixon. McCrimmon had four points and four steals; she bottled up Bird defensively, twice picking her clean at midcourt.
“We felt other people have been giving her a lot of room so we tried to pressure her more,” Cooper said.
Dixon had 16 points on six-of-14 shooting, but also handed out four assists and swung back and forth defensively on the Storm’s guards and small forwards.
“We have a champion’s confidence and the confidence of experience,” McCrimmon said. “We missed Lisa tonight, but on the other hand we learned how to play last year when people were down. So we came ready to play and to win for Lisa.”
“We knew we had to be solid tonight,” Dixon said.
And they more than compensated for the absence of the reigning league most valuable player, and the WNBA’s leading rebounder.
While Leslie looked lethargic in the Spark locker room, she said she wanted to play. But Cooper said it was best she did not.
“After tonight we’ll have a couple of days before we play [Minnesota], and we’ll see how she is then,” Cooper said.
He was grateful the diagnosis was flu. Cooper remembered the second-half collision Leslie had with Sacramento’s La’Keshia Frett in the Spark-Monarch game Saturday. Even though Leslie had finished the game and looked OK on Sunday and Monday, Cooper said she soon complained of feeling lightheaded and achy.
Fearing a concussion, Cooper said, he had Leslie undergo a CAT scan Tuesday morning, but the results were negative.
It was the first game Leslie had missed since last July 25, when she sat out against Sacramento because of a bruised knee.
Seattle Coach Lin Dunn could only shake her head at her young team’s blown chance.
“We played a tough game tonight, but we did not play a complete game,” Dunn said. “We went away from some of the basics, and they cost us. It was the little things that beat us tonight.”
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In other WNBA action:
Phoenix 78, Sacramento 63--Jennifer Gillom had 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lead the Mercury (5-2) past the Monarchs (1-6) at Phoenix.
Mercury assistant coach Linda Sharp won her first game in place of Coach Cynthia Cooper, who remained in Houston on Tuesday after a surrogate mother gave birth to Cooper’s twins on Saturday.
In other news, forward Brandy Reed’s comeback season ended when the Mercury suspended her indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team--her second such suspension in 13 months. Reed missed all but the first game of last season in a contract dispute.
Houston 53, Miami 46--Sheryl Swoopes had 16 points as the Comets (7-3) rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat the Sol (2-6) at Miami.
Utah 79, Indiana 71--Marie Ferdinand had a career-high 27 points and Jennifer Azzi had a career-high 18 as the Starzz (6-3) beat the Fever (4-5) at Salt Lake City.
Washington 75, Detroit 67--Chamique Holdsclaw scored 24 points at Washington to help the Mystics (7-1) beat the Shock (0-10).
Portland 59, Minnesota 51--Tamicha Jackson had 14 points, seven assists and a career-high seven rebounds as the Fire (4-5) stopped the Lynx (4-5) at Portland, Ore.
Orlando 71, New York 62--Shannon Johnson scored 25 points, including six in Orlando’s deciding 10-0 run, and the Miracle (4-3) beat the Liberty (7-4) for the first time at Madison Square Garden.