CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte Sting have proven they can win on the road. If they want to win the WNBA title, they'll have to do it again.
The Los Angeles Sparks moved within one game of their first championship, getting 24 points from Lisa Leslie in a 75-66 victory over the Sting in Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series.
The Sparks need only to win one game on their home floor — where they are 18-1 this season — to close out the season and join their counterparts, the Los Angeles Lakers, as champions this season.
Game 2 is Saturday.
But the Sting, who started the season 1-10 before turning things around and winning the Eastern Conference title, are no strangers to adversity. They won their first two playoff series by winning on opponents' courts.
The Sparks fell behind by 11 in the second half before coach Michael Cooper called them together and told them to turn up the intensity.
"Champions find a way to win. If I had to say anything to them, that was it," Cooper said. "I can say all I want, but it's up to them to get it done. At winning time, they decided they wanted to get it done."
The Sparks did it by holding Charlotte scoreless for more than seven minutes in the second half, finally allowing a basket with 1:09 to play and the game out of reach.
Stinson gave the Sting their largest lead of the night at 50-39 with 16:16 to play.
After that, the Sparks — especially Leslie — seemed to wake up.