Spark Loss Is a Shock to System
In the end, the Sparks’ Lisa Leslie sat on the bench, helpless, having fouled out. Teammate Jennifer Gillom stood on the sideline, eyes brimming with tears.
In the end, Coach Bill Laimbeer was right -- it was his Detroit Shock that was the WNBA’s team of destiny in 2003.
Before 22,076, the largest crowd ever to see a WNBA game, the Shock ended the Sparks’ two-year reign as champions with an 83-78 victory in the deciding Game 3 of the finals at the Palace in Auburn Hills on Tuesday night. The worst team in the league last season (9-23) is now the best.
Detroit, the first Eastern team to win the WNBA title since Houston in 1997, earned the crown it now wears.
Center Ruth Riley played “my best game ever,” outscoring Leslie, 27-13, in the final game and was named the playoff MVP. The Shock outshot the Sparks, 41.3% to 35%. Even though Los Angeles outrebounded Detroit, 34-32, and had fewer turnovers (nine to 11), it appeared the Shock got to the crucial loose balls all night.
Just as important, the Sparks had late leads in both games here, and it was the Shock that made the clinching baskets and free throws.
“Well, we did it,” said a champagne-soaked Laimbeer. “This was quite a ride we had this year. You know what the best part about it is, we expected to do it. All of our players had one focus this year, and that was to compete for the championship. And at worst case, win the Eastern Conference.”
Said Spark Coach Michael Cooper: “The Detroit Shock are definitely worthy of this championship. They came out from day one and set the tone on what it was going to be like playing against this team, and they followed through all the way.
“The only thing I don’t like is the fact that they made their coach seem like he’s a fortuneteller or something. But when you’ve got a lot of confidence and a team that’s as good as them ... you can say what you want.”
The Sparks have plenty to think about this off-season. For example, how a team that swept through the playoffs last year could not win a postseason road game this year, or how they had to constantly use up valuable energy coming back from large deficits.
The Sparks’ Mwadi Mabika, who led all scorers with 29, could only shake her head afterward.
“Even when we got ahead of them late, we knew we still had to play,” Mabika said. “But we took some stupid shots, the same situation as the game before. And they hit the big shots. Same as before.”
As it did on Sunday, Detroit blew out to an early big lead. The Shock was up, 23-9, after nine minutes, playing the kind of free-flowing motion offense that made Detroit look so dominant in Game 2. Most surprising, Riley was being left open for medium-range jumpers that she kept making.
But instead of waiting for the second half to start their rally, the Sparks raised their intensity. Mabika made two three-pointers, Leslie dropped in a couple of outside shots, and all of a sudden the Sparks ran off a 23-8 spurt to go in front, 32-31.
The Shock quickly rattled off eight straight points and would keep the lead the rest of the half. Still, the Sparks were down by only 42-37 after the first 20 minutes.
“I felt very good about it,” Cooper said.
But in the second half, the Shock quickly increased its lead to 58-45 as Riley continued to make 15-footers.
“I was wondering what was going on,” Shock guard Deanna Nolan said. “They were leaving her wide open and she was knocking down that shot all night long. And no one would come in and contest the shot.”
Riley -- who made 11 of 19 shots, grabbed six rebounds, had three assists and three blocked shots -- was modest about her performance.
“You know, Swin [Cash] is a great post-up player, and so is Cheryl [Ford],” Riley said. “You have to respect that, and I think that’s why Lisa [stayed inside] a lot. And Coach has been telling me all year to shoot that, and I was able to knock it down today.”
She didn’t knock out the Sparks by herself. Nolan had 17 and made the biggest shot of the game. After Los Angeles had fought back to go in front, 73-70, and still led, 73-72, with under a minute to play, Nolan made a three-pointer with 53 seconds remaining to put Detroit back in front for good. Cash had 13 and effectively shadowed Spark guard Nikki Teasley all night. Ford had 13 points, 11 rebounds, and made four free throws in the final 30 seconds.
The Sparks got 19 points from DeLisha Milton and 14 points from Tamecka Dixon. They just didn’t have enough in the end.
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
The Finals
Game 1 -- Sparks 75, Detroit 63
Game 2 -- Detroit 62, Sparks 61
Game 3 -- Detroit 83, Sparks 78
Detroit wins best-of-three series, 2-1
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Centerpiece
A comparison of the two centers -- the Sparks’ Lisa Leslie, MVP of the 2001 and ’02 finals, and Detroit’s Ruth Riley, this year’s finals MVP:
*--* LESLIE RILEY GAME 3 5-19 FG-FGA 11-19 3-4 FT-FTA 5-6 13 Pts 27 11 Reb 6 SERIES 21-50 FG-FGA 18-43 42.0 FG% 41.9 12-16 FT-FTA 8-10 75.0 FT% 80.0 54 Pts 44 38 Reb 17
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