WNBA Rockers fall to L.A. by 8 in opener

The Sparks rallied in the second half for a 79-71 victory.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Just two games into a new WNBA season, the Los Angeles Sparks have that same ol' look.
Lisa Leslie scored 14 of her 20 points after halftime and the Sparks rallied for a 79-71 win Tuesday night over Cleveland, spoiling the Rockers' season opener and a visit from LeBron James.
Leslie added 12 rebounds, Tamecka Dixon had 18 points and Nikki Teasley 16 for the two-time defending champion Sparks, whose zone defense held the Rockers to 32 points in the second half -- but none over the final 3 minutes, 8 seconds -- as they rallied from 13 down.
"We showed a lot of poise getting back in the game," Leslie said. "That comes from playing together and having confidence in one another."
Comeback
Los Angeles trailed 46-33 with 17:58 remaining, but with Dixon scoring from the outside and Leslie powering inside for easy baskets, the Sparks came back with a 50-point second half.
Betty Lennox scored 23 points in her debut for Cleveland, but she couldn't stop the Rockers from losing their 10th straight at Gund Arena. Penny Taylor added 17 points for Cleveland, which missed its final four shots.
"The most disturbing thing is we gave up 19 points over the last five minutes," Rockers coach Dan Hughes said. "That means we're giving up a lot of layups. We let Leslie have it [the ball] too low, too many times."
Rockers build lead
Lennox, acquired by the Rockers last month in the league's dispersal draft, scored 17 points in the first half as the Rockers built their lead before a crowd of 14,061.
But the Sparks tied it at 66-all with 3:38 to go on Mwadi Mabika's basket.
Lennox countered with a 3-pointer for Cleveland, but after Teasley hit a 3, Leslie's two free throws gave Los Angeles a 73-71 lead -- their first since 19-17 -- with 2:05 to go.
Cleveland missed two straight field goal tries and Leslie put back her own miss underneath to make it 75-71 with 1:27 remaining. Following a turnover, Dixon scored on a layup to put the Sparks up by six.