Silver Stars Sink Slipping Sparks
Last-Minute Meltdown Costs L.A. Yet Again.
When you wish upon a star, it apparently does matter who you are.
If you're the Los Angeles Sparks, few wishes can come true these days, and certainly not at the brilliant shooting, wand-waving hands of the San Antonio Silver Stars (13-6), who outlast L.A. 63-61 Tuesday.
Stars guard Becky Hammon used the Staples Center court as her stage for the baskets she didn't make in Sunday's All Star game. She drilled 25 points on 10 of 15 shooting, going 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
"We hit some big shots," Hammon says. "Things weren't necessarily going our way until the last couple of minutes. They had the momentum in the second half, we were just fighting it off."
The Sparks (7-13) did outscore the Stars by 6 in the 4th quarter, yet failed to maintain leads, as has been the case in 4 of L.A.'s last 6 home contests. With the game tied at 61 and 17.8 seconds to play, Silver Star forward Sophia Young threw in the go-ahead layup. The Sparks called a timeout with 15 ticks left, and soon got the ball. Yet the only shot they put up in the waning moments was a Sidney Spencer jumper that bounced off the front rim, much to the seething dismay of the 8,773 people in attendance.
"You could tell both teams were coming off a break," admits Hammon about what she calls the "ugly" of Tuesday's match. "We stuck together and we made plays down the stretch...I think that's crucial for our team."
San Antonio has now won 5 in a row, 9 of their last 11, and they hold their first place standing in the WNBA's Western Conference, with a 1 1/2 game lead over the second-placed Sacramento Monarchs.
Young finished second among all scorers Tuesday with 17 points. Forward Vickie Johnson scored 8, and led the Silver Stars' rebound tally with 6.
"After the all star break, it's the start of a new season," says Johnson. "We've got to focus in, and get the job done. I think we can play better!"
The job has been so close to completion on several nights this year with L.A. They have built on leads throughout the fourth quarter, only to see them extinguished in the closing seconds by an opponent just gritty enough to score go-ahead points, and in-turn come up with stops. The most evident of such Spark collapses was in the July 5 game against the Indiana Fever. With a 56-52 lead going into the last minute, the Sparks allowed a 2-point and a 3-point field goal to fall, 57-56.
While they played to tie Tuesday, a shooting percentage of 39.1 percent reared its ugly head when it came time to put up or shut up.
"Again, a game where we didn't put a 40-minute game together," says Sparks head coach Michael Cooper. "When we needed a shot, we are trying to find people to make plays. I think the bottom line is that someone on our team is going to have to become a leader, a go-to person."
Spark Center Taj McWIlliams-Franklin scored a team-high 14 points. Forward Sidney Spencer and guard Sherill Baker both contributed 10.
L.A. now begins a 7-game road trip with visits to the red-hot Phoenix Mercury and the always-challenging Sacramento Monarchs. Playoffs remain a mathematical possibility, but the Sparks must play with urgency to keep such dreams alive.
The SIlver Stars meanwhile are alive and kicking. They host Sacramento on Friday in a showdown for first place in the west.
San Antonio will aim to keep shooting as the stars they've become.
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