MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Lisa Leslie missed having Chamique Holdsclaw

around the first time Los Angeles played Minnesota. She was happy

to have her back for this meeting.

Leslie scored 29 points and Holdsclaw added 20 to lead the

Sparks to their fifth straight victory, 90-78 over the Lynx on

Sunday night.

"They're special players," Los Angeles coach Joe Bryant said.

"I am very fortunate as a coach to have those two players and also

to have someone like Chamique to come off the bench."

Holdsclaw was absent from the Sparks' 114-71 loss in Minnesota

on May 31 to attend to a family matter and Leslie only scored eight

points.

"We watched a little bit of video on that and we weren't happy

looking at ourselves playing, but at the same time we had no

excuses," Leslie said. "I thought, overall, tonight we played

really well."

"I wasn't here the first game, but we knew he had to play

defense," Holdsclaw said. "You have to hit the glass hard, and we

did."

Leslie also had 14 rebounds for the Sparks (18-5), who had a

12-2 offensive-rebounding advantage in the second half. Los Angeles

turned 18 Lynx turnovers into 26 points.

"We're a young team and a hungry team, but we also have

veterans at the same time," Leslie said. "We don't take any game

for granted."

Seimone Augustus, who led the West with 16 points in the

All-Star Game, scored 25 in Minnesota's first game since the break.

Amber Jacobs added 13 points and Svetlana Abrosimova had 10 for the

Lynx (7-13).

"When it's all said and done we have to get better

defensively," said Minnesota coach Suzie McConnell Serio. "Yes,

this was a missed opportunity."

Leslie and Holdsclaw combined for 12 points at the start of the

fourth, during a 12-4 run that gave Los Angeles its biggest lead of

the game 80-66. The Lynx could not get closer than six points the

rest of the way.

"Lisa was doing what she does best and that's put her team on

her back," McConnell Serio said.

The Sparks led by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, but

Minnesota got back in the game behind Augustus and reserves

Abrosimova and Shona Thorburn. Thorburn assisted on two Abrosimova

fast-break layups during an 8-2 run that brought the Lynx within

61-59 with 1:46 left. Holdsclaw hit a tough shot to send the Sparks

into the final quarter with a 68-62 lead.

Los Angeles was ahead 25-23 after one quarter and extended its

lead to 29-24 as the Lynx missed their first seven field goal

attempts in the second. Minnesota got within 37-36 on Jacobs'

second 3-pointer of the quarter, but the Sparks closed the half

with eight unanswered points to take a 45-36 lead.

Leslie made all four of her shots in the first half and scored

13 points, while Holdsclaw added 11 to lead the Sparks.

McConnell Serio said that guard Chandi Jones, who has been out

all season after surgery on her left knee, will be activated for

Minnesota's next game on Wednesday.