SPARKS PUSH ASIDE COMETS FOUR-TIME WNBA CHAMPIONS GO OUT IN FIRST ROUND SPARKS 70, HOUSTON 58.

Byline: Pamela Lewis Staff Writer

Here's a trivia question for WNBA fans 10 years from now: Which team dethroned the four-time WNBA champion Houston Comets to pave the way for a new champion?

Answer: The Los Angeles Sparks.

The Sparks did what no other team could in the first four years of the league, oust Houston from the playoffs. They did it Monday night at Staples Center, beating the Comets 70-58 in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.

``I think everybody in the league will be happy,'' said Van Chancellor, the charismatic Houston coach. ``I'm not very happy about it.''

He was unhappy partly because his four-time All-WNBA forward, Tina Thompson, suffered a torn calf muscle in her left leg with 11:03 remaining in the game and had to be carried off the court.

The Sparks, who now get ready to play at Sacramento Friday in the Western Conference finals, don't have much time to enjoy their accomplishment.

Sparks center Lisa Leslie, who recovered from a shaky start, had 28 points, one under her playoff high, and a league-playoff-record 18 rebounds.

``There have been so many things that happened special this season that we can't even appreciate it,'' said Leslie, who had three turnovers in the first four minutes of the game but committed only one the rest of the way.

With the victory, the Sparks kept their perfect home record intact with 17 victories this season, in front of a paltry crowd of 8,730.

But more important, they removed that mental block - the Comets - who ended the Sparks postseason the last two years. None hurt more than last year's defeat in the Western Conference finals.

``They were a big thorn,'' Sparks coach Michael Cooper said.

``I think what we proved was that we have arrived and we're a team to be reckoned with, too.''

But it took them awhile to shake the Comets, even without Thompson. Janeth Arcain, who asked to be taken out four minutes into the second half after re-aggravating tendinitis in her right knee, returned when Thompson left.

Both teams hit a brick wall and couldn't do anything offensively. The Sparks went five minutes without a field goal until Tamecka Dixon scored with 5:32 to go. She sparked a 9-0 run that put the Sparks up 61-54 with 3:41 to play and more or less marked the end of the Comets' chance of repeating as champions.

``We were going to win this game. We just had to break it open,'' Leslie said about the lull.

The Sparks won the game on the boards, outrebounding the Comets 41-31. And the Comets struggled from beyond the arc, where they were 3 for 18. Arcain, who rebounded from a poor first game, scored 13 of her 18 points in the first half; however, she was 0 for 5 from 3-point range. Thompson had 13 points and five rebounds in 28 minutes.

Leslie was 2 of 3 from long distance and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line. Dixon had 12 points, four rebounds and three steals, and Ukari Figgs had 11 points and nine assists for the Sparks.

The Comets came busting out of the blocks, catching the Sparks by surprise with a quick 6-0 start. That prompted Cooper to call a timeout and settle his troops down. He even sat down his star, Leslie, who committed three of the team's first four turnovers in four minutes.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Center Lisa Leslie of the Sparks drives uncontested for a layup.

(2) Houston Comets defender Conquese Washington tries to get the ball away from the Sparks' Ukari Figg.

Edna Trunnell-Simpson/Staff Photographer