Leslie Blocks Out the Lynx

It’s a good thing that Lisa Leslie doesn’t have to do everything all the time this season for the Sparks.

Oh, she can still score, as she did Saturday with 17 points. But for those who believed that Leslie’s 2004 defensive player of the year was some kind of WNBA lifetime achievement award, the nine-year veteran showed she could control a game in other ways.

Leslie held a block party for the Minnesota Lynx, rejecting a season-high seven shots and influencing several others in the Sparks’ 69-56 victory in front of an announced 7,815 in Staples Center.

The win, the third in a row for the Sparks (6-4), moved L.A. into a second-place tie with defending league champion Seattle in the Western Conference. Each trails first-place Sacramento by two games.

Chamique Holdsclaw matched Leslie’s output, scoring 13 of her 17 points in the second half. But it was defense that defined the contest, as the Sparks held Minnesota (5-5) to 31.6% shooting overall (and four of 26 -- 15.4% -- in the second half). And it was Leslie, now with a league-high 34 blocked shots, who underlined the Sparks’ defensive thrust.

“I feel our defense has really improved,” said Leslie, who had five rebounds. “Coach Henry Bibby has got us getting up and guarding people. I’m surprised by the pressure we’re able to apply for almost 40 minutes.

“When we’re aggressive, we can force teams to drive, and usually you have just two options -- shoot or pass the ball. I’m kinda long [6 feet 5] so I try to anticipate and put myself in the right position to try and force bad shots.”

Leslie had an eighth block ruled a foul, and she angrily slammed the ball on the court, earning a technical foul from referee Darla Foutz Stevens. But Bibby liked the show of emotion.

“Lisa is one of the main factors for us, and when she gets going and gets excited like that, it is tough to keep her down,” Bibby said. “I hope she gets angry more often. And we’re OK with that.”

Minnesota, which had nine shots blocked by the Sparks, lost for the second consecutive game. Nicole Ohlde, with 10 points, was the only Lynx in double figures.

Asked if the Lynx ever appeared discouraged by Leslie’s defensive presence, Spark guard Tamecka Dixon said, “No, the inside game is their game. They try to spread the court with their outside shooters and work the middle with Ohlde, Vanessa Hayden and Tamika Williams.”

But when your outside shooters like Katie Smith (six points) and Svetlana Abrosimova (three points) are a combined three for 14, it makes the work of Ohlde, Hayden and Williams more difficult.

The Sparks might have expected Minnesota to appear sluggish at the outset because the Lynx had played Friday night, losing at Sacramento. But the Lynx came out running from the opening tip, and also was finding holes in the Spark defense to develop a 25-19 edge with just under five minutes to play in the first half.

So the Sparks found another gear for themselves, outscoring Minnesota, 18-10, the rest of the way.

And while Los Angeles was not shooting nearly as well as it had in its previous two games -- particularly from the free-throw line, where they were eight of 15 -- Bibby was, again, getting production from practically everyone he put into the game. Of the nine Sparks who got on the court, only Raffaella Masciadri came away scoreless.

Still, it took a three-point basket by Doneeka Hodges, who had eight points off the bench, with less than a second left to give the Sparks their 37-35 halftime lead.

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Jinxed Lynx

After a rare loss to Minnesota this season, the Sparks reasserted their dominance over the Lynx on Saturday. The Sparks’ record against the other WNBA franchises:

*--* Opponent H A Overall Charlotte 7-3 4-5 11-8 Connecticut 5-1 2-2 7-3 Detroit 5-1 2-6 7-7 Houston 9-6 6-8 15-14 Indiana 4-0 2-1 6-1 Minnesota 11-2 10-2 21-4 New York 7-2 5-5 12-7 Phoenix 15-2 10-5 25-7 Sacramento 15-6 9-10 24-16 San Antonio 15-1 8-7 23-8 Seattle 7-2 7-4 14-6 Washington 6-0 6-2 12-2

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