What can an Atlanta entertainer do when he wants to be entertained? Here's a Tip: catch the Dream, and bring the whole family, family.
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Freedom Prevails: Liberty Come Back to Beat Sparks
Shameka Christon picked a good night for a career-high: The Los Angeles Sparks, also known in rhyme as the Best in the West, had what any reasonable spectator would have described as a relatively-safe fourth-quarter lead on Tuesday night. It was 10 points. A few stops here, a few buckets there, and, sure, the Liberty could be back in it. But we're talking about the 10-3 Sparks, with a late lead and, you know, and a certain frontcourt tandem that can dunk. The Liberty, though, have Shameka Christon, and on Tuesday night, that was all New York needed to rally back. Christon poured in a career-high 28 points on an astounding 6-of-8 from three. The Liberty used a 22-8 run in the fourth to come back, during which Christon scored six and her buddy Janel McCarville scored seven. The run itself was too efficient to be dramatic, though, as the deficit was gone halfway through the fourth. In the final minutes, all New York had to do was hold on to pull to .500 on the year.
ALSO MAKING HEADLINES ...
Diana Taurasi just will not stop: If at any point you find yourself glancing at the mugshot to the right of this sentence, you will be looking at the MVP of the league to this point in the season. Diana Taurasi can rarely, if ever, feel her face. The three-time All-Star was just named Player of the Week for the eighth time in her career on Monday, and followed that up on Tuesday night by scoring 28 points. Mind you, 28 impossibly efficient points. She shot 10-of-15 from the floor, 4-for-6 from behind the arc and a perfect 4-of-4 from the line. How good has she been? She earned Player of the Week for averaging 24 points a game, even though 24 points a game is, for her, only average. Yeah. And thanks to Taurasi, Phoenix won again on Tuesday, 97-79. Atlanta keeps dreaming.
Taurasi
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
"I'm just an unconscious shooter. It's important for me to mix it up, whether its the outside shot or getting to the basket. That's what I've kept in mind." -- New York guard Shameka Christon on her offensive approach, after scoring a career-high 28 in her Liberty's comeback win on Tuesday.
Candace Parker did it all on Tuesday night. I know: What else is new. She does a bit of everything -- and usually more -- just about every night, it seems, so at this point we have essentially come to expect great. (Ahem.) Her Sparks lost for just the fourth time this season (those losses, however, sit beside 10 wins) but she had very little to do with it. She scored a team-high 18 points on 8-of-16 from the floor, which is impressive when considered in conjunction with her other contributions. She also finished with a game-high 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and four blocked shots.
COMING UP CLUTCH
Ann Wautersagain. Remember last week against the Comets? It was June 24th. Wauters hit a baby hook with 3.5 seconds left in OT to give the Stars an 81-80 lead. Wauters' shot went splash (had to) so that was the game, right? Um, no. Tina Thompson hit a baseline jumper at the buzzer to lift H-Town to victory, 82-81. Oof. But on Tuesday night, exactly one week later, Wauters came up clutch again -- only this time, her efforts weren't in vain. With 14.8 seconds left and her Stars trailing by two, Wauters scored to tie the game at 65-65 and force OT. Five minutes later, San Antonio prevailed.
July 1, 2008: Scoreboard |
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