Sparks Ready for Ringing in Their Ears

The Sparks take on the Detroit Shock here today, and for the briefest of moments they may feel wistful.

The Shock will be getting its WNBA championship rings before the nationally televised game at 1 p.m. -- rings earned by beating the Sparks twice here in the league finals last year.

And one ring isn’t all that the Detroit players have on their minds.

Swin Cash told the Detroit News this week that it’s important for the team to repeat because “a team is never defined by just one championship.”

“We want to demand respect every year,” Cash said.

The respect theme will resonate with the Sparks.

Even though the season is only a week and a half old, Los Angeles, winners of two consecutive titles before Detroit dethroned the Sparks last season, looks as if it needs to regain its balance.

The Sparks (1-2) have stumbled with losses at Seattle and Connecticut sandwiched around their victory over Washington. More alarming to Coach Michael Cooper and his staff has to be the Sparks’ defense. L.A., which gave up 71.5 points a game last season, has allowed opponents an 84.7-point average in the first three games.

The Sparks will face a Shock team that is also coming off a loss. Detroit (1-1) was surprised by the New York Liberty on Wednesday, 64-52, and is struggling on offense, averaging 62.5 points and shooting less than 40%.

But the Shock is hoping for a record crowd to watch the team raise its title banner. To date the largest home crowd to see the Shock was 16,246 against New York in 1998. Team officials said Friday that more than 15,000 tickets have been sold for today’s game.

Last year, in the deciding game of the WNBA finals, the announced attendance was 22,076, which is listed as the WNBA finals record -- but not all of those tickets were sold.

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TODAY

at Detroit, 1 p.m. PDT, Channel 7

Site -- The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Records -- Sparks 1-2, Shock 1-1.

Record vs. Shock (2003) -- 0-1.

Update -- This is the end of the Sparks’ season-opening four-game trip, and it will be their first look at the defending WNBA champions. Mwadi Mabika (18.7 points), who battled nagging leg injuries last season, appears to be regaining her 2002 form when she was second-team All-WNBA. Detroit second-year forward Cheryl Ford is off to a strong start on the boards, having collected 36 rebounds in two games.

-- Mike Terry