Leslie Back in Stride in Sparks’ Win

Few teams trouble the Sparks as much as the Minnesota Lynx do.

And few teams keep losing to the Sparks the way the Lynx do.

Both teams followed the script, right down to the final dissolve Friday. The Lynx made the Sparks work for everything they got, including the 73-64 victory before 9,112 at Staples Center.

The victory wasn’t secure until the Sparks (9-1), clinging to a 60-59 lead with 3:15 to play, held the Lynx (4-6) to two field goals the rest of the way.

Friday’s victory was the sixth in a row for the Sparks this season. Since losing to Minnesota in their first meeting June 24, 1999, the Sparks have won 11 consecutive from the Lynx. It also was the Sparks’ 26th consecutive home win.

Lisa Leslie, back after missing one game because of illness, paced the Sparks with 23 points and nine rebounds. Leslie was at her best at the free-throw line, making eight of nine attempts. Minnesota guard Katie Smith led all scorers with 27.

Spark Coach Michael Cooper is glad his team has only one more meeting with Minnesota--at least in the regular season.

“I hate to play that team,” Cooper said. “[Minnesota Coach] Brian [Agler] is a very good defensive coach, and his teams make it difficult because they always play in-your-face defense and won’t let you move freely around the court.”

But the Sparks, who trailed at halftime, 31-29, and could never put a comfortable cushion between them and the Lynx, knew they shared some blame for the game being tight.

“We came out sluggish at the start,” said Latasha Byears, who supplied 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench. “And they are a physical, aggressive team. They don’t have all the athletes we do, so they wanted to make the game ugly. We’ve got to start games more aggressively.”

DeLisha Milton, who returned to the starting lineup Friday and also had 12 points, said the Sparks were lagging defensively even though Minnesota shot only 40.4% for the game.

“We came into the locker room at halftime, looked at a couple of clips, and saw we were just standing around with our arms in the air,” Milton said. “In the second half we were determined to at least move our feet.”

But the Sparks, who shot 38.1% and barely edged the Lynx on the boards, 31-30, weren’t moved to put Minnesota away until the game’s final minutes.

“I said this last year and I’ll say it again--sometimes I don’t think we know how good we are,” Cooper said. “Last year we learned how to win a championship. This year we’re learning how to repeat. We still don’t know that, yet. But a win is a win.”

Agler would gladly take any win he could get against the Sparks. And he was frustrated his team did not take one here Friday.

“The Sparks are a very good team that knows what level it has to rise to when it needs to,” Agler said. “We’re not there yet. We still have to learn to take advantage of the opportunity we had tonight.

“We’ll get a win against them eventually. I just don’t know when.”

Before the game Cooper said he planned to give L.A.’s latest addition, veteran center Marlies Askamp, some generous playing time even though Askamp did not join the team from Miami until Thursday. He wanted to keep from overworking Leslie, who missed Tuesday’s game in Seattle with flu-like symptoms.

Askamp wound up playing six minutes and did not score. Because Minnesota kept the game close, Leslie wound up playing 28 minutes, which is still 10 minutes under her average.