Sun stay hot by beating Fever, 89-73
Road-weary Sun jump on the Fever early and roll to victory
Mohegan — Alyssa Thomas, the Hellcat V8 engine of the Connecticut Sun, hoped head coach Curt Miller noticed the correlation between less practice and the team's efficiency Sunday afternoon.
"I think rest equals success," Thomas said after the Sun downed the shorthanded Indiana Fever, 89-73, before 6,145 at Mohegan Sun Arena. Connecticut led by as much as 38 late in the third quarter.
The Sun (14-9) had little time to prepare for Indiana due to travel delays returning from Washington, D.C. on Saturday.
"We strolled into Mohegan at 2:30-ish, and Indiana was scheduled to practice at 4, which didn't leave us with a lot of time," Miller said. "We literally walked through in our sweats for about a half an hour on some of the schemes that we were planning to use against them, and then we went into the film room.
"So we spent an hour with them yesterday and a half hour (Sunday)."
Connecticut never trailed the Fever and led for all but 42 seconds in the game's first two minutes.
Five players scored in double figures for the Sun and all 12 played and scored. No one had to play more than 27 minutes.
"The fact that we were able to execute and play as well as we did, I think Curt should look into this (less practice)," Thomas said.
Connecticut led, 80-42, with 29seconds left in the third quarter. It outshot the Fever through three quarters, 50.9-percent to 33.3.
"We looked good, man," Jonquel Jones of the Sun said. "A well-oiled machine."
Miller said, "Our execution for a shortprep, and (we) never did a rep in practice clothes, I was really impressed with them and I just shared that with them. Their attention to detail on our game plan and schemes on both sides of the ball was really impressive."
Thomas had 14 points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals for the Sun while Jones had 14 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.
Jasmine Thomas had 15 points and four assists, Courtney Williams had 10 points and six rebounds, and Alex Bentley scored 11 with four assists.
The Sun clinched the season-series with Indiana and remained tied for third place in the overall WNBA standings with the Washington Mystics (14-9). Connecticut was supposed to play the Mystics this past Friday night, however the game was postponed
due to a leak in the Verizon Center roof.
"We really, really wanted to play against them," Jones said. "We had that extra built-up energy, ready to get it out (Sunday) and ready to play."
The top eight teams make the playoffs, regardless of conference.
It was the ninth loss in 10 games for Indiana (8-16), which was without their two leading scorers. Shenise Johnson is out for the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee during practice on July 11.
All-Star and leading scorer Candice Dupree did not make the trip with the Fever for what the team said were "personal reasons".
DeWanna Bonner, Dupree's wife, gave birth to twin girls Thursday, according to Indiana's broadcasters during Friday's game against the New York Liberty.
Erica Wheeler had 13 points and four assists for Indiana and Jazmon Gwathmey scored nine of her 13 points in the fourth quarter.
"They're (Connecticut) a good team," Fever head coach Pokey Chatman said. "They have some rhythm going and we let them get off to a comfortable start.'
"We gave them 23 points off 18 turnovers. We dug a 12-foot hole but only had a seven-foot ladder."
The only blemish on the Sun's afternoon was a fourth quarter in which their reserves let Indiana get as close as 16 points. The Fever outscored them that quarter, 28-9, forcing Miller to reinsert a few starters.
Miller opened his postgame press conference saying, "Alright, we want to talk about the first three quarters or the fourth quarter?
"Our bench is better than how they performed tonight and they'll have better days." n.griffen@theday.com