Seattle limits Sparks inside

SEATTLE -- Sue Bird scored 20 points, Sheryl Swoopes had 16, and the Seattle Storm beat the Sparks, 64-50, Sunday to push their Western Conference semifinal series to a deciding Game 3.

The final game in the series will be played Tuesday at Seattle, where the Storm had a WNBA-best 16-1 record at home in the regular season.

Lisa Leslie had 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Sparks. DeLisha Milton-Jones scored 11 points, and rookie Candace Parker had 10. The Sparks shot 16 for 52 (31%) from the field, after entering the final quarter shooting 24%.

“That was a very well-played game by Seattle,” Sparks Coach Michael Cooper said. “They did everything they wanted to do and made it very difficult for us to get anything on the inside, and we definitely have to have that.”

Bird praised Yolanda Griffith’s defense on Leslie, who missed all five of her shots in the first half and was three for nine for the game.

“Yo is always going to give you that,” Bird said. “She is so tough defensively in terms of rebounding, and she is always guarding the other team’s best player.”

Griffith said she loves going up against Leslie.

“I’ve been playing against Lisa for 10 years since I’ve been in this league,” Griffith said. “She’s a hard challenge, so I just try to outwork her.”

Camille Little slowed down Parker, who made one of four shots in the first half and four of nine in the game.

“I thought Camille really played to her advantage that she is quick for her size,” Bird said. “When Parker tried to put the ball on the floor, which she is very good at, Camille was able to stay with her.”

The Sparks cut a 21-point deficit to seven with 3:06 left when Shannon Bobbitt made a three-point shot. But two free throws by Swoopes and three free throws by Little gave Seattle a 60-48 lead with 1:14 left.

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Schedule

Western semifinals; best-of-three series is tied, 1-1:

Game 1: at Sparks 77, Seattle 69

Game 2: at Seattle 64, Sparks 50

Tuesday: at Seattle, 6 p.m., ESPN2