Sparks’ Win Is Simply Fantastic

Van Chancellor, coach of the Houston Comets, sat dejectedly in a Great Western Forum hallway Friday night, 100 feet from his defeated players’ locker room.

His three-time defending champions had just lost for the first time in 11 games, falling to the Sparks, 63-58, before a crowd of 11,378.

Finally, a big, noisy crowd came out to see the Sparks and it was treated to a swirling second-half comeback, as L.A. outscored Houston, 42-26.

Houston played without Cynthia Cooper, who didn’t suit up because of a sprained ankle.

At the height of Los Angeles’ closing surge, when the Sparks fought back from a 47-32 deficit to take a 57-55 lead with 2:11 to go, the crowd stood and roared, adding fuel to Coach Michael Cooper’s team.

Not since over 14,000 saw the Spark-New York league opener in 1997 had the L.A. crowd generated as much noise. The Sparks’ average home attendance this season was 5,889 for 10 home games, ranking 13th in the 16-team league.

“It was the perfect night for those 11,000 to show up. Finally, we got our sixth man,” the Sparks’ Tamecka Dixon said after limiting Sheryl Swoopes to nine second-half points. Swoopes had scorched Mwadi Mabika for 17 in the first half.

“The crowd was very important to us,” Cooper said. “It seemed to get louder and louder as we made our run. The players might tell you that was 60% to 70% of what drove us.”

Swoopes, the league’s leading scorer who had 27 points when the Sparks beat the Comets here on June 20, scored twice on Mabika after halftime. Dixon, according to Cooper, looked at him during a timeout and asked, “Coach, want me to take her?”

Cooper said yes and Dixon’s quickness helped contain Swoopes. Dixon also contributed five assists, two steals and 12 points. Every Spark starter finished in double figures, Mabika and Lisa Leslie leading with 21.

The Sparks shot 37.3% (to Houston’s 46.2%), but committed only 12 turnovers.

Dixon, playing in her 100th Spark game, said guarding Swoopes is about anticipation.

“I tried to anticipate which direction she was going, and it’s hard because she’s got a great first step,” Dixon said.

“Yes, I think we started out complacent, after hearing Cynthia [Cooper] wouldn’t play. But Houston played great without her, I thought.”

Cooper benched Leslie after an uninspiring start, and she played only 10 minutes in the first half. Leslie finished with a strong second half, which included 14 rebounds.

“It was a good coaching decision,” Leslie said.

“I wasn’t playing up to my ability. He wasn’t happy with my performance. It’s my job to be ready when he calls on me.”

She played every minute of the second half.

Cooper downplayed his halftime talk to the team.

“You couldn’t print half of what I told them, but it was just a case of these players deciding they didn’t want to get pushed around any more,” he said.

“I think we won over a lot of fans tonight. A lot of those people came out to see what we’re about and I think we showed ‘em.”

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* HOMETOWN HEROES

The Sparks, taking a beat from Lakers, played like champions in a crowd-pleasing effort. Page 7