Sparks Keep Playoff Flame Lit

What now for these impossible-to-figure Sparks, a basketball team that plays better on the road than in the Forum?

Coach Julie Rousseau’s players won the fifth road game of their last six Saturday night, a resounding 74-64 victory over the Utah Starzz. But now they face that dreaded two-word assignment: home stand.

The last time this happened, the Sparks--on the heels of road victories at Phoenix and Sacramento--dropped two at Inglewood to Houston and Charlotte.

But Penny Toler, the 31-year-old point guard, has a solution for Monday night, when the Sparks meet the Western Conference-leading Phoenix Comets.

Madness.

Maybe even a little lunacy. Just about any kind of derangement will do, she said.

“What we need to do is come out against Phoenix like mad women,” she said.

“We’re at the point now where if we win every game [there are four left], we’re in the playoffs. It’s that simple.

“And we now know that our focus is different on the road. Maybe we relax too much at the Forum.”

The Sparks trail first-place Phoenix by 1 1/2 games and play the Comets twice this week.

For only the third time this season, Los Angeles (11-13) took the lead early and held onto it.

Before an announced crowd of 8,970 at Delta Center, the WNBA’s worst team was no match for the Sparks, not on a night when 6-foot-8 center Haixia Zheng was getting a break from the officials for a change, and when Lisa Leslie was tearing up Utah (6-18) from both the high and low post.

Leslie had 23 points and 12 rebounds in 29 minutes, despite playing with a touch of flu.

Utah’s offense consisted largely of 6-2 forward Wendy Palmer, who attempted a league-record 31 field goals, making 10 and finishing with 27 points. She also had 13 rebounds.

Zheng, who had 16 points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes, turned the game in Los Angeles’ direction late in the first half.

With Leslie and Toler feeding her from the high post, she was unstoppable in a three-minute span when she scored five consecutive baskets, boosting a 24-16 Spark lead to 37-24 with 2:51 left before intermission. Zheng was six for six in the first half.

The Sparks then clicked on some fastbreaks and ran off to a 44-29 halftime lead. Utah, which lost its fifth in a row, was looking at 17- and 18-point deficits early in the second half, but did cut the Spark lead to eight three times in the late going.

It was the Sparks’ first game in a week and Rousseau saw no letdown from the superlative team effort in the 72-71 loss at Houston last week.

“You worry about intensity after a layoff, but I’m proud of these ladies,” she said.

“I couldn’t be happier with our intensity tonight. When Haixia is effective in the low post and Lisa is at the high post, that’s a terrific offense for us.”

The only disappointment was the team’s new star, Tamecka Dixon. She forced too many shots, making three of 12 and finishing with 12 points.

“She had a bad night,” Rousseau said. “Everyone does. But that’s all the slack we’re going to cut her--one game.”