Sparks Roll Past Errant Liberty
After a slow start, the Sparks are starting to play like a team that has been in the last three WNBA Finals.
Lisa Leslie had 18 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots to lead the Sparks to a 65-49 victory Tuesday night over the New York Liberty in front of 13,002 at Madison Square Garden.
The Liberty (6-6) suffered its fifth consecutive loss.
DeLisha Milton-Jones had 15 points and Laura Macchi had 10 to help the Sparks (8-5) win for the fifth time in six games.
“I thought we outworked this team as other teams have been doing to us all year,” Spark Coach Michael Cooper said. “I thought we did a good job of pursuing rebounds, and when we didn’t get our hands on the initial rebound, we were outworking them to get those second and third ones.”
The Sparks took control with a 17-2 run over a five-minute stretch early in the second half to take a 21-point lead. The Sparks led by at least 14 the rest of the game.
Becky Hammon had 13 points for New York.
The Liberty shot 26% from the field, including 18.5% from three-point range.
“I have never seen numbers like these,” New York Coach Richie Adubato said. “When you have games like this, you just have to forget about it. We had open looks. Leslie did block some shots, but we had shots we usually make.”
Former Liberty players Teresa Weatherspoon and Tamika Whitmore played their first regular-season game at New York since signing with the Sparks in the off-season.
Weatherspoon finished with five rebounds and four assists and Whitmore had five points and four rebounds.
In other games:
Houston 63, Seattle 57 -- Sheryl Swoopes scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half as the Comets ended the Storm’s franchise-best six-game winning streak in front of 8,265 at Seattle.
Phoenix 69, Minnesota 46 -- Diana Taurasi scored 11 of her 18 points in a 19-5 run early in the second half as the Mercury won in front of 6,292 at Phoenix.
Washington 78, Detroit 72 -- Chamique Holdsclaw scored 27 points and Stacey Dales-Schuman made a tiebreaking three-point basket with 48.6 seconds left to help the Mystics end the Shock’s five-game winning streak in front of 7,323 at Auburn Hills, Mich.
Connecticut 63, Indiana 58 -- Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 18 points and 14 rebounds as the Sun held on for a victory in front of 6,126 at Indianapolis.