LOS ANGELES -- The smirk worn by Los Angeles Sparks coach
Michael Cooper was real. His team had just lost to the Sacramento
Monarchs, but, as Cooper reminded everyone, the Sparks still have
home-court advantage.
"The luxury of going 28-4 is you got two games at your place,"
he said after the Sparks lost 80-60 Sunday in Game 2 of the WNBA
Western Conference finals.
Owning the league's best regular-season record gave the Sparks
home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, which resume Monday
night with a decisive third game at Staples Center.
"It just depends on who's hungry," said Yolanda Griffith, who
led Sacramento with 24 points.
"We'll be very hungry and have a greater sense of urgency,"
said Lisa Leslie, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Sparks
and received the league's MVP award before tipoff.
The Sparks had their 17-game home winning streak snapped in
front of 11,972 fans, including Lakers teammates Shaquille O'Neal
and Derek Fisher.
Charlotte beat New York 62-53 in Game 2 of the Eastern
Conference finals.
Since moving to Staples this season, the Sparks were the first
WNBA team to go undefeated at home in the regular season with a
16-0 record, and then beat four-time defending league champion
Houston in the first round of the playoffs.
The Sparks beat the Monarchs three times in the regular season
and won the playoff opener 74-73 Friday in Sacramento.
But this time the Monarchs improved their outside shooting and
forced the Sparks into a season-high 20 turnovers to pull off the
upset.
"We won, but who cares? We have to get ready for the most
important game of the season," Griffith said. "They're going to
come out hungry and be upset that we came back and beat them like
we did."
Ticha Penicheiro added 19 points and reserve Ruthie
Bolton-Holifield had 17 as Sacramento shot 44 percent from the
field.
Penicheiro had the highlight of the game when she flipped the
ball behind her back and banked it in to end the first half.
"We see the shot and we're back on our heels looking like, `Oh
gosh, not one of these nights,"' Sparks forward DeLisha Milton
said.
"I felt like I had to come up and hit the big shots in order
for us to win," said Penicheiro, who hit five of Sacramento's 10
3-pointers and added seven assists.
Los Angeles controlled the boards 37-29, but shot 32 percent and
never led in the second half.
"We had some good looks at the basket, we just weren't focused
enough in really concentrating and putting the ball in the
basket," Cooper said. "Give us those same looks tomorrow night
and this'll be a 20-point lead the other way."
Leslie had just two points in the second half when she played
with four fouls and committed two of her four turnovers.
"We got a little overconfident," Leslie said. "We missed a
lot of baskets we usually don't miss and they made a lot of baskets
that they haven't been making against us."
The Sparks were surprised by Sacramento's physical play,
especially Leslie, who sported a welt near her left eye and a cut
lip.
"They played extremely physical down there and the officials
let it go," Cooper said. "That's the way playoff basketball is,
nothing wrong with that."
The Monarchs hardly looked like they would pull the upset when
they missed their first six shots of the game and trailed by 11 in
the first half.
"We started slow and I just took it upon myself to try and do
what I could to help my teammates out," Griffith said.
Bolton-Holifield had 17 points, including consecutive 3-pointers
that keyed a 14-0 run to end the first half with the Monarchs ahead
41-37. Penicheiro gave them an extra jolt with her acrobatic
driving layup.
"Those type of shots build your confidence and energy,"
Griffith said. "We were fired up. When we took the lead we just
did not want to quit and give it up."
The 14-0 run was part of a 33-18 spurt that helped the Monarchs
put the game away. Penicheiro added two 3-pointers for a 60-46 lead
with 13:18 remaining.
"They're going to have to respect our whole team tomorrow
because we're going to be hot, we're going to be ready and
focused," Griffith said.
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ALSO SEE
WNBA Scoreboard
Sacramento team page
Los Angeles team page
Sparks' Leslie named WNBA's most valuable player
WNBA playoff results, schedule
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 Ticha Penicheiro drives the lane and goes high off the glass for two.
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The Monarchs overcome a large deficit and pull away thanks to the play of Ticha Penicheiro.
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Lisa Leslie dominates early in the first half for the Sparks.
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