Sparks Fly To Their Newborn's Cry
L.A. Wins Dramatically as Star Center Gives Birth.
Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful? Isn't she precious? Less than one minute old...
While only the first three phrases of the aforementioned Stevie Wonder song accurately describe WNBA greats past and present, all four embody the wonderment of blessings showered on the Los Angeles Sparks (5-2) Friday.
They defeated the Washington Mystics 89-80 at the Verizon Center Friday, June 15, 2007. Remember the date. Center Lisa Leslie and her husband, Michael Lockwood watched their first-born child enter the world just after 4 a.m. pacific time.
"It's tremendous to get a win like this!" hails Christi Thomas, playing center that night, and finishing with a game high 25 points. She also grabbed 5 rebounds. "We are all confident and comfortable with each other."
Lift the layers of Doris Burke-generated hype from Temeka Johnson's knee injury, Leslie's obvious absence, and Chamique Holdsclaw's decision to enter retirement this week before she even turns 30, and L.A. is left with a shrewdly built, focused basketball squad eager to win, with whichever 13 ladies populate their roster.
"We're just trying to play with what we have and get a win every night," Thomas adds. "I think we've made a little noise."
The two Thomas' added the biggest sparks to L.A.’s dramatic win. LaToya drilled 12 points. Forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin threw in 11, and finished with a game-leading 7 boards. Newcomer Kiesha Brown also scored 11.
"You don't build a team on one person, but on a team as a whole," says Los Angeles head coach Michael Cooper about his "depleted" (many beg to differ) lineup. "Our team played well together, made big shots. The Mystics...are better than their record shows."
It's not that Washington (1-9) was dominated in any capacity. The score was 21-all at the end of the first period. The Sparks outscored D.C. by 4 in the second quarter, 3 in the third, and 2 in the fourth. Washington shot 43.9 percent from the field, and 74.2 percent from the free-throw line, the latter better than L.A.'s 71 respectively.
"I told them at the end of the third quarter that the first team to get a spark is going to win the game," says Mystics head coach Henry "Tree" Rollins. "We saw a little of it in the fourth quarter but it was too little, too late."
For the second consecutive game, Monique Currie came off the bench to lead Washington's scoring threat with 20. Center Nakia Sanford hit 17, and Delisha Milton-Jones sank 15 before fouling out. DMJ also led their rebound count with 7.
The loss however does wipe away much Mystic joy from Wednesday's 86-69 triumph over Phoenix, still their lone win of 2007.
"The emotional win we had and the speed we came out with just couldn't get it going," Rollins continues. "We didn't play hard as a unit."
With the win, L.A. pushes its winning streak up to 3. A team getting little respect for lack of big names (McWilliams-Franklin notwithstanding), is alive and kicking in the Western Conference. They travel to Minnesota Saturday, and return home Monday to take on their dominating Eastern Conference foes, the Detroit Shock.
When she'll make her first appearance at a Sparks home game is unclear, but Lauren Jolie Lockwood weighed in at 8 pounds, 11 ounces at 4:11 a.m. west coast time at L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
She’s 20 inches long.
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