Leslie Gives Sparks Inside Edge
Her shots were going everywhere but in the basket during the pregame warmups, and Lisa Leslie was privately wondering whether she was in for a long night.
Instead it was a long night for the visiting Connecticut Sun.
Leslie tied her career high with 32 points as the Sparks (7-3) won, 82-70, Saturday at Staples Center. With the win, Los Angeles moved into first place in the Western Conference by percentage points ahead of Houston (8-4), which lost Saturday.
“While warming up I thought, ‘This is not the time to be missing shots’ because I knew Margo would play off me,” Leslie said of Dydek, the Sun center.
It turned out Leslie made 12 of 22 from the field, eight of 12 from the free-throw line, and grabbed seven rebounds.
“I finally got a rhythm and a touch,” she said, “and I stayed with it.”
Leslie, who came into the game as the WNBA’s fourth-leading scorer (21.8) this season, seems to be rejuvenated after struggling through an injury-filled 2005 season in which she averaged a career-low 15.2 points.
“Lisa’s been playing like this all year,” Sparks Coach Joe Bryant said. “She came into training camp and set the bar higher for everyone. And usually when coaches have players who set that bar higher, a lot of times you have to ask the person who set that bar higher to come down. But everyone here has to reach Lisa’s level of play.”
One of the Sparks reaching higher was Christi Thomas, who had 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
“For the first time in two years I really am healthy,” Thomas said. “It feels great to be able to come to practice and the games and not worry about what’s hurting me today.
“And being with Lisa for 2 1/2 years has really helped me mentally. I just hadn’t been there physically yet. I think it’s all starting to come full circle.”
The Sun (7-3), suffering losses on consecutive nights, shot 37.3% overall.
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SPARKS TONIGHT
vs. Sacramento, 6:30, FSN West
Site -- Staples Center.
Radio -- 1150.
Records -- Sparks 7-3, Monarchs 5-4.
Record vs. Monarchs (2005) -- 1-3.
Update -- Neither team will be fresh tonight. But defending champion Sacramento played Saturday afternoon and the Sparks played last night. The Monarchs have been without DeMya Walker, last year’s leading scorer, who has been on maternity leave since giving birth to a daughter on April 11.
Tickets -- (213) 480-3232.