A Motown Trip Can Mess With L.A. Rhythm

It’s not a good idea to travel from Los Angeles to Detroit in search of a three-peat.

Then again, it’s not a good idea to travel from Los Angeles to Detroit for any reason. (All you need to know is the best thing to come out of Detroit -- Motown Records -- relocated its headquarters to L.A.)

Los Angeles three-peat bids have a way of slipping away in the Palace of Auburn Hills, deep in the Motor City suburbs.

This is where the Lakers’ bid for a third consecutive championship vanished when Magic Johnson pulled a hamstring against the Detroit Pistons in 1989.

Now it’s the site where the Sparks lost their first WNBA finals game, a 62-61 heartbreaker to the Detroit Shock on Sunday, when they were only seconds from finishing off a stunning comeback that would have given them a third consecutive trophy.

If 1989 was agony, this one ended in mystery.

How could the ball fly out of DeLisha Milton’s hands, then slip out of Lisa Leslie’s hands in the final seconds?

“Who knows?” Leslie said.

“I don’t know what happened,” Milton said.

There might have been some contact, but certainly no more than throughout the course of this physical game, and not enough to make the officials decide the outcome.

With the Sparks down by a point after two free throws by Detroit’s Deanna Nolan with 12.1 seconds left, they got the ball to Leslie in the low post. She was double-teamed and passed out to the top of the key to Milton, who pump-faked as Swin Cash closed on her, then went on the attack. But she lost control of the ball. Leslie grabbed it under the basket with the clock closing in on zero, but the ball slipped out of her hands and the buzzer sounded.

It was just as mysterious as the Sparks’ performance in the first half Sunday.

Leslie couldn’t do anything even when she did hold onto it. She didn’t make her first shot from the field until 5 1/2 minutes into the second half.

The Sparks, the team with all the experienced, championship-tested players, looked like a squad full of rookies. They threw passes to teammates who weren’t ready. They forced shots against tight coverage.

“I didn’t know who that team was,” Milton said. “It wasn’t the L.A. Sparks of old or the L.A. Sparks that are known for winning championships.”

The Shock managed to be both more energetic and composed. The Shock grabbed the rebounds and loose balls. The Shock ran its offense and worked the ball inside. The Shock made the open jumpers and jumped to a 19-point lead.

The real Sparks returned in the second half. Leslie’s first field goal kick-started a 14-2 run that brought them to within two points. Leslie scored seven of her 18 points during the six-minute spurt.

“We figured we couldn’t play any worse than the first half,” Leslie said. “The second half we just had to come out and play with more heart and pride. We did a better job on defense and getting some defensive stops.”

The result made this game memorable. The Sparks fought back to take a 61-57 lead and were only a minute and a half from championship No. 3.

Then, in another uncharacteristic move, they allowed Kedra Holland-Corn to shoot an open three-pointer.

“We let a three-point guru step out and hit a big bucket for them,” Milton said.

“If she doesn’t knock that shot down, it’s a different story,” Coach Michael Cooper said, “and we might be talking about winning our third title.”

Instead, Cooper could find joy only in the highly competitive game.

“I am enjoying this so much, because the WNBA has definitely gone to another level. What a great game,” he said. “I’m so proud and happy to be a part of it.”

Shock Coach Bill Laimbeer was even happier.

“Not only did we play great, they made a great comeback and then we won it in the end, and life is great,” Laimbeer said.

You know, that Laimbeer smirk and the accompanying “Gotcha” look in his eyes is still one of the most annoying sights in sports.

Cooper didn’t carry any bad blood for his old competitor from the Laker-Piston NBA Finals from the late ‘80s.

He even made a point of shaking hands with Laimbeer and the Shock coaching staff after the game.

There’s one game left, back at the Palace on Tuesday night. The Sparks will try to become the first WNBA team to win a championship on the road.

The Shock had counted on its home crowd to turn things around after its woeful WNBA finals debut in the Sparks’ 75-63 victory in Game 1 at Staples Center last Friday.

The late-arriving fans (they must have been watching the TV to see if the Lions’ fortunes would change at Green Bay) did their part. Eventually, the crowd swelled to a franchise-record 17,846, and the fans were so raucous at the end that Cooper had thoughts of another haunted house from his Laker days.

“I thought I was in Boston Garden in ‘85,” Cooper said.

That series at least had a happy ending for the Lakers, who ended years of frustration by finally beating the Boston Celtics in their building.

Can the Sparks escape the Palace jinx?

If they hope to avoid the past, they can at least learn from it and remember these two lessons: Stretch those hamstrings ... and hold onto the ball.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com.