Sparks are glad to be home

It was good to be home, and not only for the Sparks.

Playing at home for the first time in 2007 after four consecutive road games, the Sparks began Friday night at Staples Center with plenty of fanfare, engaging spectators in home-opening festivities that included glow-in-the-dark light sticks and fireworks during pregame preliminaries.

The entertainment got better from there as reserve guard Mwadi Mabika made four free throws in the last 25.5 seconds to lift the Sparks to a 90-87 victory over the Minnesota Lynx.

“I’m a veteran. I’ve been in this situation before, so I just tried to take a deep breath, and shoot,” said Mabika, who finished with eight points. She made only one of five shots but was five for six from the free-throw line.

After her first two free throws gave the Sparks an 88-87 edge, she made her last two with 6.3 seconds left to put the game away. The Sparks led 49-38 at halftime.

“I thought we did a good job of bouncing back,” Sparks Coach Michael Cooper said. “This was a good win for us.”

Taj McWilliams-Franklin helped them get it by blocking the next-to-last shot of the game by Lynx guard Lindsay Harding with 10 seconds left. Guard Seimone Augustus, the league’s leading scorer at 22.5 points a game before Friday, led Minnesota with 28.

Sparks center Lisa Leslie, the three-time WNBA most valuable player who is sitting out because she is 8 1/2 months pregnant, joined the team for pregame introductions, jogging gingerly onto the court to warm applause when her name was called.

But McWilliams-Franklin, acquired from the Connecticut Sun in the off-season to help fill the void left by Leslie’s absence, showed early that the Sparks would be OK when she scored six points in the first five minutes and finished with a team-high 20 points to go with eight rebounds.

Guard Marta Fernandez had 19 points and five assists, Chamique Holdsclaw had 12 points and four assists and Christi Thomas scored 10 points, including two on a basket that broke a 70-70 tie with 7:30 left.

Minnesota had lost its first seven games but scored a 90-85 victory at Phoenix on Tuesday, and the Lynx were looking to build on that success with the help of some players with local ties.

Former UCLA standout Noelle Quinn, picked No. 4 overall in this year’s WNBA draft, and former USC star Shay Murphy, are two of five rookies on the Lynx roster.

Each relished the chance to return to the area for the first time since April and came off the bench to make the most of limited playing time.

“Just to breathe the air and drive around here again felt good,” said Quinn, who had four points in 17-plus minutes. “It’s still home. I’m happy to be back.”

So was Murphy, who shared a lunch with former USC teammates before the game.

“I was so excited to see the 110 Freeway,” she said

Quinn was the first of the two to score on a straightaway jumper that tied the score at 18-18 with 32 seconds to play in the first quarter. Murphy, who played seven-plus minutes, finished with three points after making a three-point shot that tied the score at 31-31 with 5:12 to go in the first half.

“We fought back, but of course, we’re not satisfied,” Quinn said. “We’re satisfied with the effort. Everyone played hard.”

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lauren.peterson@latimes.com