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Sparks Trounce Lynx; On Championship Path
Posted Tuesday, September 2, 2008
 Los Angeles Sparks forward Candace Parker muscles in two points over former Tennessee teammate Nicky Anosike of the Minnesota Lynx. Photo by Donald Barnat. |
LOS ANGELES - “I’m not going to say that we’ve won any kind of championship, but we’re on our way to being a championship team,” Los Angeles Sparks head coach Michael Cooper said, after his team turned a 37-37 halftime tie into an 82-58 rout of the visiting Minnesota Lynx at Staples Center on Labor Day before an announced 9,072 fans.
The victory puts the Sparks at 18-12 on the season, just one and one half games behind Western Conference leader San Antonio. LA beat San Antonio on August 30, 58-53. The Sparks’ win streak now stands at four.
Circle September 5th on your calendars, because in their next game the Sparks travel to the Alamo city to take on the Silver Stars in the pivotal game of this year’s Western Conference title battle. That contest could see LA close the gap to a half game in the conference race, or fall to two and a half games back with a loss, which would likely be an insurmountable deficit for the conference title.
But on Labor Day at Staples Center it was anyone’s game at halftime. Even though Candace Parker already had a double-double, Seimone Augustus was shooting 57 percent, Lisa Leslie had 11 points and Nicky Anosike and Charde Houston both had been strong offensively with eight points apiece, it was really just the pre-game show.
The athletic Lynx scored the first six points of the third quarter, but then LA staged a 20-1 show-stopper from 8:04 in the period until just 32.4 seconds remained and Candice Wiggins hit two free throws. LA led 62-48 at the end of three periods.
The LA fourth-quarter fade is seemingly a thing of the pre-Olympic past, as the Sparks won the fourth, 20-10, to put the game on ice.
Lynx star and USA Olympian Augustus was held to seven points in the final three quarters, after scoring six points in the first period. She was frustrated by close defensive pressure from LA.
“Delisha Milton [-Jones] is the best defensive player in this league … and as a coaching staff that’s our job, to look to see how we can affect people in certain areas, and I thought we did a good job by forcing [Augustus] left, and keeping a defensive player on her shooting hand as well as in front of her," Cooper said after the win.
Rookie of the Year shoo-in Parker led all scorers with 24 points, and topped all rebounders with 16 caroms. Leslie added 20 points, eight rebounds, and eight blocked shots. Temeka Johnson had six assists.
For Minnesota, Augustus had 13 points, followed by rookie Nicky Anosike with 11 points and seven rebounds; Candice Wiggins had 10 points.
Actor Jack Black was sitting courtside, and lent his support for the home team by doing the Robot during the Sparks’ timeouts.
Rookie sensations Parker and Wiggins got into a hot moment early in the fourth quarter, as Wiggins executed a long hard block on Parker, and Parker responded by throwing the ball at Wiggins. All apparently was forgiven after the game, as the two hugged each other as the teams shook hands after the contest.
Minnesota next travels to Phoenix to take on the first-to-worst Mercury on September 3rd at 6pm, while LA aims toward that Friday showdown in San Antonio at 5pm.
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