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Saturday, Aug. 5 4:00pm ET
Sparks notch 11th straight victory | |||||
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PHOENIX (AP) -- If the Western Conference standings remain unchanged, the Los Angeles Sparks should like their chances in the opening round of the WNBA playoffs. Lisa Leslie had 22 points and 14 rebounds as the Sparks beat Phoenix 77-63 Saturday for their 11th straight victory. The Sparks (27-3) have won 23 of their last 24 games, and completed a sweep of their three-game season series against the Mercury (19-11). Phoenix had its two-game winning streak snapped. "The way things are shaping up, it looks like we will play them" in the playoffs, Sparks coach Michael Cooper said. "People were talking before the game that this was a statement game. Statement or not, this was a good effort for us. The girls put together a good performance in the second half. We played well when we had to." The game was a possible preview of the playoffs because Los Angeles leads the Western Conference and Phoenix is in fourth place, meaning the two would meet in a best-of-3 first-round series if the standings don't change. "We wanted to send a message to them," Leslie said. "We have a lot of respect for them. We give them a lot of credit. We recognize we can't look past them. They always play hard and are tough here. We know that." Ukari Figgs added 14 points and Mwadi Mabika had 12 for Los Angeles. Brandy Reed scored 25 points, 16 in the first half, for Phoenix, and Jennifer Gillom had 17. Los Angeles led 52-49 with 9:27 left before running off 10 straight points to pull away. The Sparks led 34-32 at halftime. Phoenix went up 42-40 on a jumper by Reed with 14:26 left, but Los Angeles regained the lead for good on a basket by Leslie with 10:43 remaining. Reed was impressed with the way the Sparks finished the game. "They really turn it on the last 10 minutes of a game," she said. "The last two times we've played them, we haven't hit the clutch shots." | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Los Angeles 77 Phoenix 63
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