NEW YORK -- Lisa Leslie was helped off the court and then taken to the hospital after injuring her right knee during the second half of the WNBA All-Star game on Saturday.

	Sheryl Swoopes, left, and Nikki Teasley, far right, check on Lisa Leslie after she went down with her knee injury.

An MRI exam showed Leslie has a bruised knee and is day-to-day.

Leslie fell hard to the floor while battling for position under the basket with Swin Cash. She stayed down for several minutes while trainers assisted her.

The Los Angeles Sparks star was helped off the court by teammate Nikki Teasley and a trainer. She then needed further assistance as she limped to the locker room a few moments later.

"You never want to see a player go down,'' said Teasley, the game's MVP. "Lisa is a strong individual and she's going to recover from this.''

Leslie left the game with 14:35 left in the second half. She was placed on a stretcher, with ice on her knee, and was taken to Beth Israel Hospital.

Leslie, who has won the All-Star MVP trophy three times, had a team-high 17 points in 16 minutes of the West's 84-75 victory over the East.

West coach Michael Cooper, who also coaches Leslie on the Sparks, said he believed the play was too physical during the game.

"I'm not naming any players, they went over the back and the officials let that go and this happened,'' Cooper said. "I think you have to call this one to kind of calm them down a little bit ... but you just don't say, 'OK, we are going to let them play,' because now players are going to start swiping, taking liberties more than they are supposed to, cheap shots.

"I'm just an advocate of letting a team play hard or play fair and the best team will win.''