Tuesday nights games proved to be bad news for the home teams. Usually home court is to your advantage because you know the surroundings and yes, the fans are there to support you. So where was the love last night for Los Angeles, Washington and San Antonio?! Say what? All three home teams lost? Two of them had the bottom feeders winning.
The Los Angeles Sparks were shocked by the New York Liberty, 65-61. This is the first time I can say that the Liberty looked like a solid team, all season long. Something that has plagued the Sparks all season is their turnovers, they had 18 of them last night. And the Liberty was actually able to take advantage of those turnovers. Plus, the Liberty stopped relying on the ineffective perimeter game and took the ball inside. Gee, what happened? The Liberty outscored the Sparks 32-20. The Sparks out rebounded the Liberty, but only 35-30 and with the added Sparks turnovers, well, that would probably balance out to a 4 point Liberty win. Shameka Christon had 11 points and Loree Moore had 10 for the Liberty but the other players were close to double digits so that certainly helped in the victory. Tina Thompson looked a little lost at times in the paint, very uncharacteristic but credit to the Liberty defense. Anytime she got the ball there was a hand attacking it. She finished with 9 points and 6 boards. Lisa Leslie had 12 points and 5 boards. Candace Parker had a double-double, 11 points and 11 boards. The inside defense for the Liberty was relentless, both Thompson and Leslie led the team in turnovers with 4 (Thompson) and 5 (Leslie). So with the loss the Sparks remain 1 game back from San Antonio, thanks to Sacramento beating them last night. And I would just like to comment on Los Angeles sports teams: Why don't the fans show up until nearly half-time? Is that a "California" thing?
Sacramento Monarchs won easily, 90-73, over the San Antonio Silver Stars. The difference? The Monarchs had 37 rebounds, to San Antonio's 27. That played well for the Monarchs as they outscored the Silver Stars in the paint 42-20. The Monarchs were led by Rebekkah Brunson who hit for 19 points and 9 boards. Your All-Star Nicole Powell had 17 points, Scholanda Robinson had 13 points and coming off the bench, the spark plug, Kara Lawson had 12 points. Ticha Penicheiro had 11 assists for the Monarchs as she just kept pounding the ball inside for easy buckets. The Silver Stars had 27 points in the first quarter then scored 46 over the next three. They only hit 20 points in a quarter once, that was the first quarter. Sophia Young and Vicki Johnson both kept the scoring going for the Silver Stars but they were about it for them, scoring 14 and 12. The Silver Stars keep faltering, they've lost 4 of their last 6 games. What needs to happen? It just seems like they are not clicking on all cylinders and playing as a team, together. With the Sparks right behind them, look out Silver Stars!
The final game had the Detroit Shock win over the Washington Mystics, 81-77. This game was tight from the start but an explosive 35 point fourth quarter by the Shock put the Mystics down. It seems that the Mystics play 33 minutes of a game, they forget about the last 7 minutes, you know, when the clock is ticking to the end of the game! The Mystics had a 12 point lead at one point but squandered it and allowed the Shock to make a nice comeback for the win. I'm sure this gives the Shock a lot of confidence for the rest of the season. Perhaps the difference was the resurgence of Deanna Nolan. She dropped in 23 points for the Shock. Taj McWilliams had 17 points and that rookie nobody is talking about, Shavonte Zellous from Pittsburgh, had 16 points. What else helped the Shock? The return of Cheryl Ford starting to play to her potential. 10 points and 10 boards, 6 boards on the defensive end. The Mystics were led by Alana Beard with 17 points and Crystal Langhorne had 15 points. Nobody seemed to take charge for the Mystics on the rebounding side of the game and that ended up hurting them in the end!
So in conclusion, home team advantage is not an advantage at all. Not when you are 13 games from the end of the WNBA season and the standings are to tight to call! Let's keep up the great games, let's have a few more upsets...it makes the game more interesting!
Tonight's Games
None at all! Day off for the ladies.
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