They Rose to the Occasion

The Sparks had shown signs of greatness throughout this season. Monday night was the first time they actually proved something.

What they showed in their 93-62 victory over the Sacramento Monarchs that sent them to the WNBA finals could not be mistaken for anything other than championship form.

When required to, in a win-or-else situation, they responded. When Lisa Leslie says, “The mental toughness and determination are there,” there’s no option other than to believe her.

For the better part of the last month of the season, the Sparks were playing for records. Monday night, one day after their humbling defeat to the Monarchs had left their best-of-three series tied at one, they were playing for survival. Lose this one and the distinction of winning every regular-season home game and running up an 18-game winning streak would only serve as weights around the ankles, making the plunge into the off-season feel even faster.

Would the Sparks be too uptight? Could they handle the pressure of being one loss from elimination?

The answers were: No, and Yes. They played with confidence. Funny thing is, their survival instinct brought ... more records.

Lisa Leslie’s 35 points and seven blocked shots were all unprecedented in a WNBA playoff game. She also had 16 rebounds.

Ask 10 people to define a most valuable player and you’ll get 10 different responses. Or you could simply watch a tape of the first half of Monday’s game for a definitive answer.

Leslie, who was officially named the WNBA’s MVP on Sunday, provided everything required of a team leader Monday. She made jumpers. She went to the basket with force. She grabbed rebounds. She helped out defensively, coming from nowhere to swat away shots. She scored eight of the Sparks’ first 10 points to stake them to an early lead that was never seriously threatened.

“Coach [Michael] Cooper said he needed to see the MVP today,” Leslie said. “I was here.”

Her MVP responsibilities actually began after the Sparks’ 80-60 loss Sunday. She talked to her teammates, beginning with DeLisha Milton in the shower.

“She was like, ‘D, we’ve got to box out, we’ve just got to do this, we’ve just got to win,”’ Milton said. “‘Point blank, we need this win now.”’

“I felt I had to make sure my teammates believed that I believed that we can win,” Leslie said. “We have to have faith. We have to believe we can win.

“We didn’t get to this point by luck. We are a damn good team that works hard and we play hard and we can put the ball in the basket.”

Leslie took a long look in the mirror after Sunday’s loss. For one thing, she had a black eye, a swollen lip and a bump on the bridge of her nose. (“I don’t know what’s going to happen to my endorsements,” she joked.) But she also had to acknowledge that she played soft in the second half of Game 2.

On Monday, things were different literally from the opening tip, when Leslie knocked the ball to Milton for an uncontested layup.

The Sparks made a non-factor out of Sacramento star Yolanda Griffith. The defensive effort, led by Milton, kept her from getting open looks at the basket and the team boxed her away from the backboards. As a result, Griffith had only six points and four rebounds.

With Tamecka Dixon knocking down three-pointers and flying in for layups, the Sparks led by as many as 34 during the course of the game.

The only scare came when Mwadi Mabika crashed to the floor with a loud thud and felt dizzy after she was fouled by Ruthie Bolton-Holifield while going for a layup. It served as a reminder of why it’s so important to finish a series early, so you don’t run the risk of injury.

Mabika said she should be fine when the championship round begins Thursday in Charlotte, N.C.

Cooper tempted fate leaving the stars in for so long in a game the Sparks wrapped up midway through the second half, especially against an agitated Monarch team. Finally, he sent Rhonda Mapp in for Leslie with 4:16 remaining. He cleared the rest of the bench with three minutes left.

Actually, Cooper has left little to chance this season. From his conditioning drills to his hyper style (he’s the only person whose real head bounces more than his bobblehead likeness), he has infused the Sparks with a combination of his old playing style and Pat Riley’s teachings.

“When Coach Cooper’s very intense, this team is very intense,” Milton said.

For Coop, it’s very simple.

“In order to win a championship you have to play defense,” he said.

But he can go big-picture and drop a few metaphors as well.

“The light’s at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

“As Pat Riley used to say, ‘Seize the moment.’ And the moment is coming real soon.”

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J.A. Adande can be reached at [email protected]