Washington ? Just when it seemed Chamique Holdsclaw had been shut down, she pulled off three consecutive brilliant plays to send the Washington Mystics on their way to another playoff victory.

A give-and-go assist to Annie Burgess, a baseline move for a layup and a rifled backdoor pass to Stacey Dales-Schuman capped a 12-3 run that put the Mystics ahead for good as they beat the New York Liberty, 79-74, Thursday night in Game One of the Eastern Conference finals.

Holdsclaw, the league’s leading scorer and rebounding during the regular season, added a 17-foot jumper on the next possession and finished with 20 points on 7-for-14 shooting. Top-seeded New York will host Game Two on Saturday and Game Three, if necessary, on Sunday.

Sparks 75, Starzz 67

Salt Lake City DeLisha Milton had 13 of her 17 points in the first seven minutes after halftime for the Sparks in the opening game of the Western Conference finals. Utah gets another chance in Game Two of the best-of-three series on Saturday in Los Angeles, but last year’s WNBA champions swept the three-game season series and improved to 16-6 all-time against Utah.