Sun stay alive, beat Aces 105-76 in Game 3 of WNBA Finals
A HISTORIC effort from Alyssa Thomas helped the Connecticut Sun stave off elimination again.
Thomas had the first triple-double in WNBA Finals history, and the Sun beat the Las Vegas Aces 105-76 in Game 3 on Sept. 16, 2022 (PH time).
She finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists for the Sun, who have now won all four of their elimination games in these playoffs, topping Dallas on the road in the first round and beating Chicago in Games 4 and 5 to close out that series.
“We’ve been struggling offensively and we finally got a game back at home and my teammates were hitting shots,” Thomas said. “None of this would have been possible without them.”
Las Vegas leads the best-offive series 2-1 with Game 4 on Sunday in Connecticut.
The Aces got off to a fast start, scoring nine of the first 11 points and forcing Connecticut to call a timeout. That settled the Sun down and they took over, outscoring the Aces 32-10 the rest of the quarter, including 25 of the final 29 points. Connecticut made 14 of its 17 shots in the period and DeWanna Bonner was a big reason why.
Bonner struggled in the first two games of the series, scoring five points total while missing 16 of her 18 shots. She had seven points in the opening 8 minutes on Thursday night and finished with 18.
“She was huge. She’s been here before. She’s won it. So, we lean on her,” Thomas said. “And she’s been struggling offensively, but we had nothing but faith in her and she came out and did her thing tonight.”
Jonquel Jones led the Sun with 20 points.
Jones, Bonner and Thomas helped Connecticut dominate inside as the Sun set a Finals record with 64 points in the paint while holding Las Vegas to 26.
“That’s been the M.O. of the playoffs,” Jones said. “Even the Chicago series, the team that won the paint won the game. That’s where it’s done. A long time ago, I talked to Lisa Leslie and she said to win a championship you have to win the paint. I see it now and feel it now. I can go back to that and see she was right.”
Connecticut used that advantage to lead 53-34 with 1:44 left in the second quarter before the Aces closed the period by scoring the final nine points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Kelsey Plum from just inside half-court.
The Sun seized momentum back to start the third quarter, scoring the first five points. Las Vegas couldn’t get closer than six the rest of the game.
“That’s a team that is very resilient. If you could encapsulate Connecticut it’s physical and very resilient,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “They are physical and resilient and we didn’t match that tonight in any category.”
Jackie Young scored 22 points and A’ja Wilson added 19 for the Aces.
Las Vegas was thwarted in its first attempt at winning the franchise’s inaugural WNBA championship. The team had been in the Finals twice before and got swept in 2008 and 2020.