Sparks, Comets Play Down Playoff Prelude
The Sparks say their final regular-season meeting today with the four-time WNBA champion Houston Comets is not World War III.
“I don’t think people should make that big a deal about it,” guard Tamecka Dixon said. “We are rivals, and it’s grown over the five-year period. But it’s just another game to us. Another business game we have to take care of on our way toward our ultimate goal.”
Spark Coach Michael Cooper agreed: “I don’t think [the outcome] will make or break either team.”
Well, yes and no.
It could have an impact on the Western Conference standings for 18-11 Houston, which is barely hanging onto second place--half a game ahead of Utah and one game ahead of Sacramento.
Houston and Sacramento have three games left, Utah has two. Should the Comets finish with the same record as Sacramento and Utah, the Comets could wind up the fourth-place team because the Monarchs and Starzz have tiebreaker advantages.
And Houston has to do it with its stars hurting. Tina Thompson has a sprained left ankle that has limited her movement, and Janeth Arcain is battling tendinitis in her knee.
Comet Coach Van Chancellor isn’t looking to send any “messages” today. “Right now we’re trying to take care of our own business. We need to play better so we can feel better about ourselves going into the playoffs.”
The Sparks (26-3) have already won the Western Conference regular-season title and have clinched home-court advantage for as long as they are in the playoffs.
Los Angeles, which has won 17 consecutive games, is trying to become the first WNBA team to go through its home schedule unbeaten. Today is the Sparks’ final home game.
But any discussion about the Comets and Sparks centers on league championships.
Houston has won the previous four. And in the 1999 and 2000 playoffs, the Comets eliminated the Sparks in the conference finals. Last year’s playoff series loss was especially bitter for the Sparks because they had the league’s best regular-season record.
This season is supposed to be different.
Despite having Thompson (20.1) and Arcain (18.7) among the league’s top five scorers, the Comets have been up and down while trying to adjust to the loss of two of their best players. Cynthia Cooper retired before the season (and now coaches at Phoenix) and Sheryl Swoopes seriously injured her right knee in April.
“We are a younger, more inexperienced team,” Thompson said. “If we’ve learned anything, it’s to approach each game with urgency or it can be lost. We found that out the other night in Seattle. We had beaten them twice before, and we took them a little lightly. But we definitely won’t take that approach anymore.”
The Sparks, led by Lisa Leslie (20.5), started the season with a nine-game winning streak, lost three, and haven’t lost in nearly six weeks. They have won 20 consecutive home games. If they win their last three games, they would set another WNBA mark for most regular-season victories.
But the Sparks are well aware that all they have done is set regular-season standards. To end the season without the championship would be an underachievement for the organization.
There’s another factor, said General Manager Penny Toler, who remembers how loudly the Comets celebrated their playoff victory over the Sparks last season.
“Even though there are no stakes involved, this is pride,” she said. “It’s not for the championship and that’s our ultimate goal; we never lose focus on that. But just as I am sure Houston never wants to miss an opportunity to beat us, we never want to miss an opportunity to beat them. That’s what it boils down to.”
Still, DeLisha Milton warns against turning the contest into a crusade. “We have to be careful not to put too much into the game,” Milton said. “If you do that, it means your thought process isn’t where it should be; you’re focusing on the negative. If I think about it, I would think about the last time we played them, and the games we lost. And you don’t want to come into a game like this with thoughts like that.”
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In Friday’s WNBA games: Vickie Johnson scored 17 points to help host New York beat Orlando, 77-67 .... Elena Tornikidou scored 21 points to lead host Detroit past Washington, 69-63 .... Sheri Sam scored seven of her 21 points in overtime as host Miami beat Indiana, 72-67 .... Andrea Stinson scored 21 points to lead visiting Charlotte over Cleveland, 55-53
