Insider Preview - Storm vs. Los Angeles

1. Point Differential:
So far this season, the Sparks have been outscored by two points per game, which is more consistent with the performance of a 5-7 team than one that goes 4-8. It's hard to ascribe a great deal of bad luck to Los Angeles, which has played just one close game all season (that a 79-77 loss to the Seattle the Storm at KeyArena). However, the ease with which the Sparks have dominated opponents in their wins - three of the four have come by 20 points or more - suggests L.A. has another gear to explore that the team has been unable to reach on a consistent basis. Fellow 2008 Western Conference Finalist San Antonio is a game ahead of the Sparks in what is now the race for the last playoff spot in the West, but Los Angeles has the better point differential.

2. Schedule:
The Sparks annually start their season with more road games than home games because the STAPLES Center is so busy during the springtime. Such has been the case this season. Los Angeles will go into the All-Star break having hosted just four games, three of them wins. Using the "plus-minus schedule" method of giving a team a point for each road win and subtracting one for each home loss, the Sparks are actually just where you would expect at this point of the season. Now, unfavorable schedule or not, a 1-7 road record is a concern. However, Los Angeles will have a very friendly schedule down the stretch as it attempts to catch the leaders in the Western Conference. The Sparks actually go on another three-game road trip after the All-Star break, but then play seven of their next eight in the friendly confines of STAPLES.

3. Health:
Going into the season, Los Angeles was a favorite to win the West and potentially the entire league in large part because of the team's star-studded lineup. The Sparks added Betty Lennox and Tina Thompson to a core that already included three-time MVP Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker, who won MVP in her rookie season, as well as Olympian DeLisha Milton-Jones. However, it has been the newcomers along with Milton-Jones who have had to carry the load in the first half of the season.

In L.A.'s fifth game, Leslie went down with a severe sprain of her right knee. She returned to limited practice over the weekend, but did not travel to Seattle with the Sparks for tonight's game, the eighth straight she will miss. At some point, potentially even as soon as Saturday's All-Star Game, the Sparks will get Leslie back in the lineup. Her size will be particularly helpful for a team that has only one other true center, reserve Vanessa Hayden.

Parker began the season sidelined as she recovered from giving birth to daughter Lailaa in May. Parker missed the season's first eight games before returning on July 5, when the Sparks hosted Phoenix. That came less than a week after Parker rejoined L.A. for practice, and she has looked rusty in the four games she has played. Parker has averaged 4.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting 34.8 percent from the field and committing 2.5 turnovers, numbers hardly comparable to what she accomplished in becoming the first WNBA rookie to win MVP honors. It is surely only a matter of time until Parker returns to form.

Even short-handed, the Sparks have been dangerous, as the Storm found out the hard way late last month. The teams' first two meetings of the season came in a home-and-home set played Friday in Seattle and Sunday in Los Angeles. The Storm narrowly escaped with the aforementioned two-point victory at home, then were blown out in the rematch.

The common denominator in the two games was the success of a Sparks defense that has been inconsistent at times. After a solid first half at home, the Storm shot 37.8 percent from the field thereafter. The Sparks were able to take Lauren Jackson away, and the Storm's offense stagnated. That should make this matchup interesting, as the Storm will likely get Jackson back in the lineup after a two-game absence because of a mild strain of her left Achilles. Without Jackson, the Storm's offense got more contributions from other sources. Four players scored double-figures on Sunday against Minnesota, none of them Jackson or All-Star point guard Sue Bird. The rest of the Storm's starting lineup will need to continue to look for shots if Los Angeles again collapses around Jackson defensively.

KEY MATCHUP
	The most consistent player for the Sparks this season might be former Storm guard Lennox, who leads L.A. with 13.5 points per game and has added a career-high 5.8 rebounds a night. Lennox has come off the bench for the Sparks the last three games, though the team's game notes list her as a projected starter for tonight. Lennox's former understudy, Tanisha Wright, has come into her own as the Storm's starting shooting guard since midseason 2008. Wright was terrific Sunday against Minnesota, scoring 15 points and handing out four assists without a turnover. She capped the night by scoring what proved to be the game-winning basket with 10.3 seconds left to play.

The Storm suffered its worst defeat of 2009 June 28 in Los Angeles, struggling at both ends of the floor in an 82-55 loss to the Sparks. The loss snapped a three-game Storm winning streak but moved Los Angeles to 3-0 at home with three wins by 20-plus points. The Storm led 17-15 after one quarter, but the Sparks took control in the second quarter. The game got away from the Storm as the third period wound down, with L.A. going on a 14-2 run over the last 3:16 of the period. Brian Agler went with his starters for the duration of the fourth quarter as the Sparks continued to extend their lead.

No Storm players scored double-figures as aggressive defense limited Jackson to nine points on 3-of-10 shooting. Her streak of eight straight games with 20-plus points was snapped one game shy of the WNBA record to start the season. Camille Little also scored nine points. Bird was limited to seven points on 3-of-11 shooting as the Storm hit 34.6 percent from the field and committed 22 turnovers. Marie Ferdinand-Harris led five L.A. players in double-figures with 15 points.

INJURIES

Storm - Center Lauren Jackson (mild left Achilles tendon strain) is a game-time decision. Forward Ashley Walker (right big toe) is out.

Los Angeles - Center Lisa Leslie (sprained right knee) is out.