Sparks Take the First Step Successfully

Lisa Leslie and the Sparks, shaking off their dreaded home-court disadvantage, made most of the big plays in the home stretch to win a crucial WNBA Western Conference game before 10,496 at the Forum Monday night.

Leslie had 26 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Sparks to a 75-66 victory over Phoenix, pulling Los Angeles within a game of the conference-leading Mercury.

With three games to play, the Sparks improved to 12-13. Phoenix slipped to 13-12. The Sparks can wrap up a semifinal playoff game with Forum victories over New York on Wednesday and Sacramento on Friday, and by beating the Mercury one more time--at Phoenix on Sunday.

Phoenix plays at Sacramento on Wednesday and finishes at home with Charlotte on Friday and then the Sparks.

With arguably their best game-long defensive effort, the Sparks have won four of five since dropping two consecutive home games to open the month.

And the home-court jinx? It looked like history late Monday, when the confetti mortars fired their blasts at the final horn, showering the happy winners and fans, unaccustomed to victory confetti at home.

Mercury Coach Cheryl Miller, possibly unhappy with the confetti shower, got into a Forum hallway shouting match with Spark assistant Orlando Woolridge moments after the game and her players had to pull her away.

Julie Rousseau’s team is on a roll. It has played five solid games in a row, beginning with the 67-50 victory at New York on Aug. 5.

And Leslie, who turned that New York game around defensively, did it again Monday night.

Leslie played like she wanted to mount a late charge at Houston’s Cynthia Cooper for the most-valuable-player award.

Playing 34 minutes, she intimidated Phoenix’s big players, Jennifer Gillom and Toni Foster, forcing them to alter their shots in the low post, making sizzling passes from atop the key and dominating under the boards.

She made the play of the night with 11:06 left, a no-look pass from the high post to Linda Burgess all alone underneath. Burgess’ easy basket gave Los Angeles a 57-49 lead.

On the previous trip, she hit Haixia Zheng with a hard pass that resulted in another easy score.

It was Leslie’s 18-foot jump shot with 2:50 to go that seemed to seal it for the Sparks. It gave Los Angeles a 66-61 lead, but Phoenix crept back to 67-63.

Then Kansas rookie Tamecka Dixon’s three-point basket at 1:25 made it 69-63.

Burgess grabbed a critical rebound at the other end and Phoenix had to play it out with desperation fouls.

Rousseau called it step one of four.

“It’s a big win,” she said. “It’s not the biggest win, that’s still to come. Today was a step in the right direction. There are three more steps.”