CHICAGO, May 22 (AP) -- Chamique Holdsclaw scored 18 points to lead the Los Angeles Sparks past the Chicago Sky 81-64 on Tuesday night.

The Sparks got 13 points from Taj McWilliams-Franklin, who was acquired in an offseason trade from the Connecticut Sun to fill the void left by Lisa Leslie's decision to sit out the season because she is pregnant.

Leslie, a three-time MVP, led the Sparks in scoring and rebounding in 2006. The game marked the team's first season opener without Leslie in franchise history.

Sidney Spencer and Mwadi Mabika each added nine points for Los Angeles (1-0), which reached the Western Conference finals last year.

Dominique Canty had 18 points for the second-year Sky (0-2), who dropped their home opener after losing 83-71 to the New York Liberty on Sunday. Stacey Dales scored 14 for Chicago, which lost 13 of its first 14 games last year.

Holdsclaw had five points during a 14-0 Sparks run to give Los Angeles a 65-38 lead with 1:41 left in the third quarter.

A 3-pointer by Mabika with 8:14 left in the game gave the Sparks their biggest lead at 72-44.

Los Angeles had scored the first seven points of the second half to extend its lead to 45-30 on a McWilliams-Franklin layup with 7:12 remaining.

Down 29-15 in the second quarter, Chicago went on a 12-0 run capped by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Canty to cut the deficit to two with 2:47 left.

The Sparks finished the half on a 9-3 run to take a 38-30 lead at intermission. Los Angeles jumped out to a 19-6 first-quarter lead on a jumper by Holdsclaw with two minutes left in the quarter.