It Goes From Bad to Worse for Sparks

SACRAMENTO — After the Sparks’ home loss to San Antonio on Wednesday, Tamecka Dixon could be seen stuffing clothes in a large gym bag. She was asked if she was going to play Thursday against Sacramento and Dixon, who had sat out four games because of a knee injury, said “yes.” When asked if she was coming back because she didn’t like watching the way the Sparks were playing, Dixon offered another one word answer: “Yes.”

Certainly the Sparks have missed Dixon’s fiery competitiveness and icy composure down the stretch as much as her average of 14.9 points a game. But, as Thursday’s 83-75 loss to the Monarchs illustrated, the Sparks have other problems to address.

Start with the defense. Yes, the Sparks (18-7) still are without Lisa Leslie, who missed her seventh game because of a knee injury. And, yes, they were playing their second game in two nights.

But those factors alone should not have elevated the Monarchs, who were shooting 40.2% for the season, into Thursday’s 49.2% crew that looked a step faster than the Sparks from the opening tip. That energy went a long way in establishing Sacramento’s 35-29 rebounding edge and franchise record-tying 11 blocked shots.

It also gave Sacramento a second consecutive victory over the Sparks and split of the season series. It was the Monarchs’ first victory over Los Angeles in Sacramento since June 11, 2000.

“Our confidence level is higher now, but we’re going to keep it inside of ourselves,” said Monarch center Yolanda Griffith, who played despite a bruised right elbow that has not allowed her to practice this week.

“We have to stay focused and get everybody healthy, including me.”

The Monarchs (13-12), who won for the sixth time in seven games and went over .500 for the first time since May 30, got their points from several sources.

Rookie Kara Lawson came off the bench and riddled the Sparks for a career-high 24 points. She made seven of 10 shots, including six of eight from three-point range.

Edna Campbell added 14 and Tangela Smith, Yolanda Griffith and Ticha Penicheiro each had 10.

That more than compensated for the career-high 23 points by the Sparks’ Nikki Teasley, 20 by DeLisha Milton and 16 by Mwadi Mabika. Dixon had eight but missed 11 of 13 shots.

Los Angeles was lucky to trail only 38-26 at halftime after shooting 23.1% from the field (nine of 39). The Sparks rallied in the second half, taking a 63-61 lead on free throws by Milton with 6:57 remaining. But Larson came down and made her final three-point basket to put Sacramento ahead, and the Sparks never led again.

“Playing against a great team like L.A., you know they’re going to make a run at some point,” Lawson said. “We wanted to make the final run, the one that made the game.”

Said Spark Coach Michael Cooper: “We kept telling them to [close the gap on Lawson] when they came to the bench, but you’ve got to recognize when a shooter’s got it going. . It’s a sad way to lose a game.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re tired or not, you’ve got to get it done. If you’re tired, let us know and we’ll get some fresh bodies in to keep up with her.”

Afterward, the Sparks could be heard in the locker room loudly discussing their recent shortcomings. When reporters entered, Teasley said the two-time defending WNBA champions had to straighten things out themselves.

“Even if we’re not knocking down shots, we can control the game defensively,” Teasley said. “We’re just not getting it done right now. We have to learn from this loss and move on because we’ll see another good team, Charlotte, on Saturday.”