SPARKS TODAY

Opponent--Houston Comets.

Site--The Summit, Houston.

Time--11 a.m. PDT.

TV--Channel 4.

Records--Sparks 10-12, Comets 13-7.

Update--The Sparks, with eight games remaining in the regular season, can reach first place in the Western Conference today if they win and Phoenix (10-10) loses at Charlotte (10-9). The Comets defeated Phoenix on Thursday--the Mercury’s seventh loss in nine games--and the Sparks defeated Cleveland in double overtime. At New York and Cleveland, the Sparks played tenacious defense, got superb floor games from guards Tamecka Dixon and Penny Toler and big production from post players Lisa Leslie and Haixia Zheng. The 6-foot-8 Zheng had 22 points and seven rebounds at Cleveland, her most productive effort since June 27. Leslie had 14 rebounds in each game and a total of seven blocks. Spark Coach Julie Rousseau hopes the distraction of token playing time today by Houston’s Sheryl Swoopes--who gave birth June 25--won’t affect her team. The main threat is still from the league’s best player, Cynthia Cooper, who scored 34 points against Phoenix. Swoopes played five minutes Thursday, her first basketball since the 1996 Olympic gold-medal game.