Fray Boils Over After Sparks’ 55-50 Win

Joe Bryant said he “went Philly” in the fray.

The new Spark coach was far from the only one to be involved in an on-court incident after Los Angeles’ 55-50 victory over the Houston Comets on Sunday night at Staples Center, and he wasn’t the first to exchange harsh words.

The dispute began over the Sparks’ accusations of a cheap shot by Houston’s Tina Thompson that sent Los Angeles’ Laura Macchi to the floor at the end of the game.

By the time it was over, players from both teams had exchanged shoves, fists were raised, Bryant and Houston Coach Van Chancellor exchanged harsh words and reportedly even Spark owner Johnny Buss joined the dispute on the court.

It was not immediately known whether any punches were thrown, but no one was injured on a night when the Sparks were fighting for playoff survival with a victory that kept them one game behind the fourth-place Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA’s Western Conference playoff race.

After the game, Macchi stayed on the floor several minutes while several Sparks -- most notably Christi Thomas -- had to be restrained from going after Thompson.

Spark officials said they would send a tape of the incident to the league office.

“[Thompson] took a cheap shot at one of my teammates and I told her it was uncalled for,” said Thomas, who added there was some shoves exchanged by the players.

“She said something to me ... it was the heat of the moment,” Thomas said. “But you take a cheap shot at one of my teammates, and we’ve got to stick up for one another.”

Macchi, whose primary language is Italian, had Spark center Lisa Leslie speak for her.

“She said she went to box Thompson out [after Houston’s final shot] and she swept her leg out from under her,” Leslie said. “That’s what [Macchi] said, because I didn’t see it.”

Bryant, in his third game as the Spark coach, added: “It was an old-fashioned soccer leg whip. I asked Tina, ‘What did you do?’ She said, ‘Oh, she flopped.’ I said ‘I know you’re a better player than that.’ And then Van came up and questioned me talking to his player. Then I went Philly on him. But it’s all good.

“We’ll have the front office take a look at it, but as far as [the team] is concerned, we just turned a page and we’re thinking about Minnesota.

“But I think it was something that was uncalled for. And I was surprised because I look at Houston as one of the elite teams.”

Buss could not be reached after the game.

Thompson did check with Spark officials outside the L.A. locker room to see if Macchi was OK before hustling back to the Houston locker room.

Bryant didn’t have to think hard about superlatives for Leslie, who led the team with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

Not after watching the Sparks miss 40 of 60 shots (33.3%) and having only one other player reach double figures.

The Sparks’ Chamique Holdsclaw scored all of her 11 points in the second half.

“She has the instinct of knowing when to carry a team,” Bryant said. “And when you have great players like that, you can’t cloud their instinct. You change from a coach to a manager, if that makes sense.”

Houston (17-15), which got 18 points and five assists from Sheryl Swoopes, and 10 points from Janeth Arcain, fell out a tie for second place with Seattle. The Comets need to win one of their final two games to clinch a playoff spot. They will end the season by playing host to the Sparks on Saturday.

Houston had a big chance to make an easy night of it early. After Tamika Whitmore made the game’s first field goal on a layup, the Sparks missed their next 15 shots. The only Spark point during that 7:29 stretch was a free throw by Leslie.

Both teams spent the remainder of the half searching for their respective offenses. Houston finished ahead, 20-19, almost by default. The Comets made nine of 27 shots in the half (and 17 for 48 for the game) but the Sparks were an even drearier six for 33 after 20 minutes.

The 19 points were the fewest the Sparks have scored in the first half of any game this season.

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In other WNBA games:

Phoenix 83, Minnesota 69 -- Diana Taurasi had 17 points, five rebounds and two blocks, and Anna DeForge added 16 points -- each in little more than one half of play -- as the Mercury (16-15) won at Phoenix. The loss -- Minnesota’s third in four games to Phoenix -- eliminated the Lynx (14-18) from playoff contention.

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Detroit 66, Washington 52 -- The Shock (15-16) took a 16-0 lead to win at Auburn Hills, Mich., as the Mystics (14-17) missed their first 13 shots, a league-record.

Detroit could clinch a playoff berth Tuesday with a win over Charlotte and a Washington loss.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.