Sparks Show They Aren’t Finished Yet
Nikki Teasley was right.
The first-round WNBA playoff between the Sparks and the Sacramento Monarchs has become a great series, just as the Spark point guard predicted before it began.
The Sparks’ 71-57 victory Sunday afternoon, before 7,471 at Staples Center, forced the best-of-three series to go to a deciding game Tuesday in L.A.
Game 3 will be hard-pressed to equal the drama, anguish, energy and clutch play on both sides of a Game 2 in which Sacramento had rallied to within one point of the Sparks, at 53-52, with 8:21 left in the game.
At that point, the Sparks’ Tamecka Dixon had fouled Sacramento 6-foot-3 forward Tangela Smith to become the third L.A. starter with five fouls, joining 6-5 Lisa Leslie and 6-3 Christi Thomas. It was particularly troubling news for a Spark team that suited up only eight players, with two of the three bench players being 5-9 and 5-8.
But Smith missed the second of her two free throws to leave L.A. with the one-point margin. And the Monarchs scored only five points the rest of the way.
The Spark heroes were plentiful.
Mwadi Mabika, who had a game-high 22 points, responded after the 53-52 lead by sinking three three-point shots to account for nine of the Sparks’ next 11 points and a 64-54 L.A. lead with 3:50 left.
“My legs were a little tired, but I’m glad I hit the shots,” she said. “I wasn’t shooting well in the second half, but when the game was tight I just decided I was going to shoot and see what happens.”
Dixon had 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals before fouling out with 52 seconds left. She also took over the point-guard duties for Teasley at that 8:21 mark, with Teasley exiting after an 0-for-6 shooting performance.
Leslie had 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots against the Monarchs’ deep and tireless frontcourt.
Thomas had 12 points and seven rebounds and made a pivotal defensive play with 4:08 left to play when she took a charging foul from center Yolanda Griffith while Sacramento was still within seven points.
Sacramento was led by 15 points from Smith and a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds from Griffith, who made only three of 13 shots. But even though the Monarchs nearly overcame a 13-point second-half deficit, the visitors were ultimately done in by 26.9% shooting (18 of 67) overall.
“We do not celebrate this win,” said Karleen Thompson, the Sparks’ co-coach. “This was a job we had to come out and do, and we were able to do it. We know that the real work starts Tuesday.
“This is a great Monarchs team that fights hard. As hard as we fought under the basket they were still able to get 19 offensive rebounds. We have to find a way to stop that.”
Monarch Coach John Whisenant, whose team outrebounded the Sparks, 40-34, has a different task. His team, which has given the Sparks more trouble this season than any other WNBA squad, has to look beyond past playoff failures against the Sparks.
“As I told our players, the Sparks’ 25 wins in the regular season had no factor on the [win] we had in Sacramento,” Whisenant said. “And when we came down here, the fact we had beaten them in Sacramento was no factor here.”
He pointed to his team’s shooting percentage and their defense that allowed 19 more points than Friday’s game.
“You can’t beat a top-notch team that way,” he said.
Another concern for the Monarchs is the status of Griffith, a U.S. Olympian who is a team leader. Griffith reportedly hurt her shoulder while trying to grab an offensive rebound in the closing minutes Sunday. Her status for Tuesday’s game is unknown.
The Sparks had better news; they will have two more players for Tuesday’s game. Laura Macchi and Raffaella Masciadri have completed their obligations to the Italian national team, which was competing in the European tournament. Masciadri will rejoin the Sparks today. Macchi will be back Tuesday.
Before the game, Leslie was presented with the WNBA award for defensive player of the year. She was also honored for being the league’s leading rebounder and shot-blocker.