Leslie and Sparks Bounce Back With Win at Indiana

Tamika Catchings and Lisa Leslie played as though the most-valuable-player award were on the line Saturday night.

Catchings scored 27 points for the Indiana Fever, but Leslie’s excellent fourth quarter led the Sparks to a 73-68 win.

Leslie scored 11 of her 23 points in the final period.

Sparks Coach Joe Bryant said he sent Leslie out on the fastbreak more often in the fourth quarter and had the team look for her earlier.

“That’s something we try to do down the stretch,” he said. “Sometimes if you do it too soon, teams can adjust.”

Temeka Johnson added 15 points for the Sparks (20-6), who shot 51% from the field and became the first WNBA team to reach 20 wins.

Catchings had six rebounds and a season-high seven steals for the Fever (15-9). She was 12 for 20 from the field, but the rest of the team was 13 for 43.

“I was telling my teammates, ‘Don’t let one player beat us,’ ” Leslie said. “She was all over the place. Offensively and defensively, she’s hard to stop.”

The Sparks bounced back from a 73-59 road loss to Detroit on Friday night.

“We were all tired,” Leslie said. “We had a long day of travel. That didn’t mean we had to lay down and give away another game.”