SPARKS' TALL TRIO BREAKS HOUSTON : SPARKS 75, HOUSTON 60.

Byline: Pamela Lewis Staff Writer

The Sparks' team defense delivered again. They stayed in the Houston Comets' faces all night to make one giant step toward realizing a goal many say is impossible . . . except them.

So, instead of the Comets' Big Three of Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson being the dominant force on the court, it was the Sparks' Big Three of 6-foot-5 Lisa Leslie, 6-foot-1 DeLisha Milton and 6-foot-3 La'Keisha Frett who delivered the one-two-three punch before 10,099 at the Forum Thursday night.

The trio combined for 50 points and shot 63 percent from the field in a 75-60 victory over the Comets in the first game of best-of-3 Western Conference finals.

The series moves to Houston Sunday for a 1 p.m. game, and, if necessary, Monday at 5 p.m. Knowing the Comets' ability and experience, the Sparks are hoping not to have to play a third game.

``Obviously this win gives us a lot of confidence that we can beat this team,'' said Sparks coach Orlando Woolridge. ``We know that we have a lot of hard work to do. We feel we have a really good chance to go in there on an emotional high and play as hard as we can. But step one was getting this game tonight.''

The Sparks quickly regrouped from an early brief deficit and had the Comets on their heels. Tamecka Dixon came off the bench to add six quick points and Leslie had five, including a 3-pointer, during an 11-2 stretch that gave the Sparks a 29-20 lead they would never relinquish.

Leslie had 15 of her game-high 23 points in the first half, while Milton put up half of her 16. Those two worked particularly well together, and the Comets didn't have an answer for Milton. She was 7 of 10 in her 33 minutes.

Houston expected Leslie to explode, but they weren't prepared for Milton.

``They struggled with our post game,'' Milton said. ``They had a hard time with Lisa and me. When they doubled on Lisa, that gave me a chance to hit that 15-footer that I'm used to shooting.''

The Sparks shot 51 percent from the field, the only team to shoot more than 50 percent on the Comets this season and out-rebounded them, 14-6, in the second half.

``This is a good win for the Sparks,'' said Houston coach Van Chancellor. ``I just wished it wasn't at the expense of the Comets.''

After taking a 33-20 lead at the break, the Sparks exploded with a 15-3 run to start the second half. The Comets later cut their deficit to seven (61-54) with five minutes remaining, but Sparks' guard Gordana Grubin converted a 3-pointer to spark an 11-2 run one minute later.

Swoopes, who had a team-high 17 points for Houston, was troubled by a sprain knee but still played 33 minutes; she wasn't that impressed with the Sparks' defense.

``Not to take anything away from them, but I didn't think they did anything special in particular, expect grab our jerseys,'' she said. ``It's not that they played great defense, but we didn't play well on offense.''

The Comets shot 41 percent from the field. Cooper, the three-time WNBA scoring leader, was 4 of 16 for 12 points.

Chancellor acknowledged that it had been a difficult week for his team, which lost their spirited point guard Kim Perrot to cancer Tuesday.

The Comets are not a team easily whipped, though. They won their second WNBA title last year after losing the first game on the road against Phoenix.

WNBA PLAYOFFS

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

(Best-of-three)

Game 1: Sparks 75, Houston 60

Game 2: Sunday, at Houston, 1 p.m.

x Game 3: Monday, at Houston, 7 p.m.

x if necessary

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) Sparks' Mwadi Mabika, right, takes an aggressive defensive stance guarding Houston's Janeth Arcain during Los Angeles' win Thursday.

(2) La'Keisha Frett, right, moving to the basket against Cynthia Cooper, help spark Los Angeles to a playoff win Thursday over Houston.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

Box: WNBA Playoffs (see text)