PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- After proving they can win without Lisa Leslie, the Los Angeles Sparks kept on winning as she returned.
Leslie had 31 points and 11 rebounds as the Sparks won their 12th straight game by beating the Portland Fire 88-83 Saturday night.
"I always stop at about 33," said Leslie, who missed the Sparks' win over Sacramento on Wednesday because of a knee injury. "I don't want to push it."
Mwadi Mabika added 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists and
Ukari Figgs had a career-high 17 points for the Sparks, who lost a
12-point halftime lead before taking control.
"Back to last year, we didn't want to put a lot of pressure on
Lisa as far as being the only person we can go to," Sparks coach
Michael Cooper said. "We're not just a one-player team -- but she
is our catalyst."
Jackie Stiles scored 27 of her career-high 32 points in the
second half for the Fire, who hit all 27 of their free throws.
Tully Bevilaqua added a career-high 13 points.
Portland made its second late run in the last four minutes,
outscoring the Sparks 12-1. Stiles capped it with a 3-pointer with
2:30 left that cut the Sparks' lead to 82-79, but that was as close
as Portland got.
Leslie stole a loose ball from Bevilaqua and was fouled. She hit
both free throws, and the Fire didn't score again.
Los Angeles played without guard Tamecka Dixon, who team
officials said took the night off to rest. The Sparks didn't need
her.
"They are the best team in the league, and they were missing
one of their best players tonight," Linda Hargrove said. "I
thought they were really good last year, and they have all their
players back only they added a couple of players."
Los Angeles pulled away in the first half, as Leslie scored 15
points and the Sparks grabbed 22 rebounds to the Fire's 12.
"She is the class of the league right now, and she's
demonstrated it pretty much from the opening game to the All-Star
Game," Hargrove said. "It's almost like she's on a mission to be
the very best player in the league."
Mabika hit a fast-break jumper 7:59 into the game to give Los
Angeles its first lead, and the Sparks went on a 14-2 run in which
Leslie scored seven points and blocked one shot.
Bevilaqua hit three 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the
game, but the Sparks shut down Portland's top scorers with an
effective zone defense to take a 46-34 lead at halftime. Crawley
finished the half with only six points and Stiles had five.
"This team is very good. We just have to be very good when it
counts, and that's in the playoffs," Leslie said. "We're looking
forward to that."
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ALSO SEE
WNBA Scoreboard
Los Angeles team page
Portland team page
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