SPARKS LESSEN SHOCK DEFENSE ACTIVE IN GAME 1 WIN SPARKS 75, DETROIT 63.

Byline: Joe Stevens Staff Writer

The Sparks did not play their best, but it still might be good enough for a WNBA championship.

The Sparks took a giant step toward winning their third consecutive title with a 75-63 victory over the Detroit Shock in front of 10,264 at Staples Center on Friday night. Whether it was the Sparks' menacing defense or Detroit's poor shooting was debatable, but Detroit shot just 28.6 percent - the lowest in WNBA Finals history.

Game 2 of the best-of-three series is Sunday in Detroit, where the Sparks will try to become the first team in the league's seven-year history to win a championship on the road.

Blessed with a 23-point lead in the first half, the Sparks cruised to victory. But though Detroit never got closer than 11 points, the Sparks weren't satisfied with their performance.

``We still had those moments where we had mental lapses as a team,'' Sparks forward DeLisha Milton said. ``Instead of winning by 30, we won by 12. Those mental lapses really cost us.''

Both the Sparks and Detroit came out shooting poorly and lacked composure. The Sparks started 0 for 5, the Shock 0 for 6. Unfortunately for Detroit, they didn't get out of that funk until the second half. The Sparks led 42-21 at halftime to set a Finals record for most points in a half. The Shock's first-half point-total was one off tying a Finals-record low.

With the inside-out play of Lisa Leslie and the jump shots of Milton and Tamecka Dixon, the Sparks took a 40-17 lead with 1:08 left before halftime. In contrast, Detroit was moving at a pace that was too quick to accomplish anything.

``Impatient?'' Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer said. ``I would say hectic. We didn't rush our shots. We took herky-jerky shots.''

In the second half, Detroit finally calmed down, but not enough to make a serious comeback. It pulled within 72-61 with 1:29 left but by then had run out of time.

Still, Laimbeer and his team spun the loss as one in which their mistakes gave away the game. They were confident, bordering on cocky, about being able to win the next two in Detroit.

``What did we learn about the Sparks in the second half?'' Laimbeer said. ``We learned, hey, we're just as good as them.''

The Shock's game plan was to try to somebody other than Leslie beat it; Leslie still had 23 points and 12 rebounds. Since Detroit often played a zone defense, collapsing on Leslie, Milton responded with 19 points and nine rebounds. Dixon had 15 points.

For Detroit, Swin Cash scored 16 points on 5-of-15 shooting, and Deanna Nolan had the team's best shooting performance, going 6 of 13 for 15 points.

Unlike when the Sparks won the Western Conference finals, coach Michael Cooper did not demand more respect from critics of his team. He even downplayed Friday's victory.

``This one win doesn't mean anything,'' Cooper said. ``As I've always said, the playoffs start when one team wins on the other team's home court.''

The Sparks have a five-game winning streak in the WNBA Finals, sweeping their opponents the past two years. In the locker room, their attitude remained business-like.

``I think that we're so focused that we really didn't celebrate much and didn't get too excited,'' Leslie said, ``because we've been here before and we know that it's not over until it's over.''

Joe Stevens, [phone]

joe.stevens(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

The Sparks' DeLisha Milton (8), who had 19 points and nine rebounds, drives around Detroit's Cheryl Ford on Friday.

Edna T. Simpson/Daily News