Leslie Is Injured in All-Star Game

Lisa Leslie of the Sparks was helped off the court and then taken to the hospital after injuring her right knee during the second half of the WNBA All-Star game on Saturday.

An MRI exam showed Leslie has a bruised knee and is day to day.

Leslie, the league most valuable player last year, fell hard to the court while battling for position under the basket with Swin Cash. She stayed down for several minutes while trainers assisted her.

She was helped off the court by teammate Nikki Teasley and a trainer. She needed further assistance as she limped to the locker room a few moments later.

“You never want to see a player go down,” said Teasley, the game’s MVP. “Lisa is a strong individual and she’s going to recover from this.”

Leslie left the game with 14:35 left in the second half. She was placed on a stretcher, with ice on her knee, and was taken to Beth Israel Hospital.

Leslie, who has won the All-Star MVP trophy three times, had a team-high 17 points in 16 minutes of the West’s 84-75 victory over the East.

Spark Coach Michael Cooper, who was coaching the West team, said he believed the play was too physical during the game.

“I’m not naming any players, they went over the back and the officials let that go and this happened,” Cooper said. “I think you have to call this one to kind of clamp them down a little bit ... but you just don’t say, ‘OK, we are going to let them play,’ because now players are going to start swiping, taking liberties more than they are supposed to, cheap shots.

“I’m just an advocate of letting a team play hard or play fair and the best team will win.”

Teasley had 10 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Yolanda Griffith of the Sacramento Monarchs had 14 points and seven rebounds. Sue Bird of the Seattle Storm had 11 points.

Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever led the East with 17 points. Deanna Nolan of the Detroit Shock had 15 points and Tari Phillips of the New York Liberty had 13.

After Leslie left the game, the West seemed to be inspired. With the pro-Eastern Conference crowd rooting against them, the West stars went on an 18-4 run to take a 66-54 lead with seven minutes remaining.

Griffith had nine points in the spurt.

But the East cut the lead to three on two occasions down the stretch.

Nolan made a three-point shot to make it 71-68 with 2:40 remaining, but that is as close as the East would come.

Teasley followed with a three-point basket and the West made two more shots to take a 78-68 lead with 1:32 to play.

The West made six of eight free throws in the final 43 seconds to secure its fifth consecutive All-Star victory.

In the first half, Leslie dominated play for the West, but her team trailed, 46-38, at the break. She had 13 points in the first five minutes.

Sheryl Swoopes was limited to seven minutes in the first half because of a toe injury on her right foot.

The East held its own inside against the much bigger West, forcing the West to shoot more from the outside.

Phillips led the East with 11 points at the break and Nolan had eight.