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The Sparks’ DeLisha Milton-Jones avoids handshake line after Wednesday’s loss

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After the Sparks fell to the Seattle Storm, 79-66, in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals at Seattle, DeLisha Milton-Jones eschewed the postgame handshake line.

‘It was intentional because I was rather upset for several reasons and I just decided to go in and not bring that negative energy to anyone out there,’ Milton-Jones told reporters.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist struggled on the offensive end, scoring only eight points on four-for-10 shooting.

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‘We gave up a big opportunity tonight,’ Milton-Jones said. ‘We didn’t really play our style of basketball that allows us to be successful. We are a team that shares the ball and when we have 20-plus assists a night, we’re usually on the winning end. Tonight they had 20-something assists and we had only eight. For us, that’s not good. We are better as a unit as opposed to certain people scoring a bunch of points, so we have to get better at that.’

Milton-Jones, a 6-foot-1 forward, had to contend against a very physical and scrappy 6-foot-5 Lauren Jackson, who was held to 17 points on six-for-14 shooting.

Things turned ugly when Jackson elbowed Milton-Jones in the jaw on the latter’s drive to the basket with 6:41 remaining in the third quarter. Jackson was given a technical foul on the play and Milton-Jones’ teammates had to restrain her after she got up from the ground.

Game 2 of the best-of-three series is in Los Angeles on Saturday at noon.

-- Melissa Rohlin

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