PHOENIX -- Lisa Leslie is undeniably women's basketball's biggest star, and she has stated that this, her twelfth year in the WNBA, will be her last. She and the Sparks faced elimination in Game 2 of the league's Western Conference Finals against the hometown Mercury on Friday, but Leslie was clearly not ready to call it a career just yet. Behind 10 first-quarter points from Leslie, the Sparks jumped out to an early double-digit lead, and never looked back while cruising to an 87-76 victory, which evened the best-of-three series at one game apiece.
While the Mercury did make a couple of runs to try to get back into it, the game was really decided in its opening period. L.A. led 31-17 at the end of the first quarter, and had 10 more field goal attempts than Phoenix, while dominating the boards for a 13-2 rebounding advantage.
The bottom line was simply that the Sparks wanted this one more, and played with a desperation from the opening tip that the Mercury were never able to match.
"It's all about will. It's the will to win, and for us, we're not ready to go home," Leslie said.
Diana Taurasi, who led the Mercury with 25 points, echoed that sentiment.
"They came out like the team that had to win the game," Taurasi said. "And they did that throughout the 40 minutes. We played like the team that was up 1-0."
The Sparks pushed the lead to as many as 20 points in the second quarter, before the Mercury's best chance to try to make a comeback presented itself midway through the third.
In a span of a little more than two and a half minutes, Lisa Leslie picked up her third, fourth, and fifth personal fouls, forcing her to the bench for the remainder of the period. Phoenix quickly took advantage, and cut L.A.'s 16-point lead down to nine over the next three minutes. But Betty Lennox, who came off the bench to contribute a solid 17 points for the Sparks, ended the run with a three-pointer, and did the same thing the next time her team's lead dipped below double figures, when there was just under four minutes left in the game.
Candace Parker led the Sparks with 24 points and a ridiculous 18 rebounds, and she was, overall, the team's best player. But Leslie was the one who led the charge from the start, and admittedly, the possibility that this could have been her last game was somewhat of a motivating factor.
"In a way it's very motivating to me: how do I want my last game to look," Leslie said. "And for me, that's driving me and making me play harder, and not take off possessions, to keep going after loose rebounds, to make sure I'm doing the right schemes. So I would say yes, it's helping me to focus on what it is that I need to do."
This wasn't Leslie's last game, but the next one might be. These two teams will play again on Saturday, and the winner of that one will advance to the WNBA Finals, while the loser will call it a season -- or, in Leslie's case, call it a career. But surviving for one more game was never the ultimate goal, and you get the feeling that Leslie may have a few more stellar performances in store before she's ready to retire.
"We're still not comfortable, because we're not satisfied," Leslie said. "And for me, obviously, I don't want to end my career here in Phoenix."
