Friday, September 26 2008 -- Friday, September 26, 2008 -- On Thursday, the Los Angeles Sparks and the San Antonio Silver Stars played game 1 of the 2-out-of-3 Western conference finals.

The Sparks got the spark they needed, playing at home, and beat the Silver Stars by 15 points, 85-70... not a good start for the Silver Stars. Nevertheless, the next game will be played in San Antonio, where the Silver Stars have an excellent record.

For the Los Angeles Sparks, center Lisa Leslie led the way with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Interestingly, if you're in to the numbers game, rookie Candace Parker, Temeka Johnson and Marie Ferdinand-Harris added 14 points a piece to bring their club the win.

The key to the Sparks win was defense - they focused on Becky Hammon and held her down to 9 points... 10 points less than her average.

They also harrassed the Silver Stars players so much that they were unable to get their shots off with a lot of time on the shot clock. They were forced to take quick shots with the clock winding down...which rarely brings good results.

They were monsters on the boards, outrebounding San Antonio 41-29.

The efforts of Ann Wauters (18 points) and Sophia Young (16 points) were not enough to overcome the Sparks' hot hand on offense - they shot 53% from the field.

The closest the Silver Stars got was six points, with five minutes to play, but they were unable to close the gap further and the Sparks won going away.

In the course of the season, the Sparks and Silver Stars split their four meetings. The Sparks won at their home...the Silver Stars won at theirs. So, the third game of this series (if there is one) is going to necessitate someone winning on the other team's court.

The Eastern conference finals between the Detroit Shock and the New York Liberty begin on Friday.