Sparks chasing duplicate crowns
LOS ANGELES — Candace Parker and the Los Angeles Sparks have a chance to do something that hasn’t been done in 15 years: Win back-to-back WNBA titles.
Only the Sparks aren’t thinking repeat.
They’re focused on winning a title, almost as if last year’s championship against Minnesota didn’t happen.
“It’s a new recipe every year to win a championship,” Parker said Monday after practice. “The same thing isn’t going to work as it did last year, but I like our preparation and I like our experience.”
The Sparks ended the regular season on a seven-game winning streak. They’ve been off for eight days, resting and practicing while waiting to find out their opponent in the best-of-five semifinals. The Phoenix Mercury had to win elimination games against Seattle and Connecticut to advance.
Game 1 is Tuesday night at Staples Center.
Parker long ago succeeded Lisa Leslie as the face of the Sparks franchise. Leslie led Los Angeles to backto-back titles in 2001 and 2002. Having won everything else in the game, Parker finally added a WNBA title last year. At 31, she’s learned you don’t always get another chance.
The Sparks (26-8) did just that in the regular season, sweeping the Mercury (1816) in three games. The Sparks won by an average of 16 points, although the first game was decided by two.
“They’re a dangerous team,” Sparks coach Brian Agler said. “They probably have more new players than we even do and our roster is half changed from a year ago. They’ve steadily gotten better.”
The Mercury hasn’t been to the WNBA Finals since winning a third title in 2014.
The teams will be playing for the fifth time in the postseason,with Phoenix winning three of the four previous meetings. The Sparks’ most recent series win against the Mercury was in 2000, long before any of the current players werein the league.
The series features four of the league’s biggest stars: former MVPs Parker, teammate Nneka Ogwumike and Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi, and two-time defensive player of the year Brittney Griner.