VICTORY IS SERVED
Sun inch closer to their fourth straight playoff bid with an assist from Miller
The Connecticut Sun should consider having more team dinners the day before a game.
There's only so much that WNBA players can do living in their "Wubble" at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., thus the Sun gathered together for a team dinner the night before Saturday's game against the Indiana Fever.
It was both a good dinner and an endorsement for Outback Steak House.
"Oh, man, anytime (Sun head coach) Curt (Miller) buys dinner it's pretty," Connecticut's DeWanna Bonner said with a chuckle.
"We tried to get Ruth's Chris (Steak House). It fell through, but it was definitely a great time."
Bonner was one of three Connecticut players that scored 20-or-more as the team played perhaps its best game of the season, a 96-77 win that put the Sun at the doorstep of their fourth straight playoff berth.
"We had a lot of fun at dinner," said Sun center Brionna Jones (she had salmon). "I think that positivity carried over into this game. ... That little bit of something different, I think, gave us a little more energy coming into this game."
Miller said: "(Friday) night was one of those instances where you could feel the team is about ready to break through; that the team was going to take the next step together."
Bonner had 26 points and six rebounds for Connecticut (9-10). Alyssa Thomas, who missed Thursday's loss to the Las Vegas Aces due to an undisclosed hand injury, returned and had 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and a game-high five steals.
Jones made 9 of her 12 shots for 20 points with six rebounds and three steals for the Sun. Jasmine Thomas also returned to the starting lineup after missing the past three games with plantar fasciitis in her right foot. She had eight points, seven assists and three steals in over 22 minutes.
The Sun, who started the season 0-5, are seventh in the overall WNBA standings with three games to play. The top eight teams qualify and Connecticut is oh-so-close to its fourth straight playoff berth.
The Sun have a 3.5-game lead over the eighth-place Dallas Wings (6-12), based on sweeping the season series.
The Washington Mystics (5-12) are in ninth place and play Dallas on Sunday. Connecticut and Washington split their regular season series.
The Sun got a huge favor from Las Vegas on Saturday night as the latter downed the Atlanta Dream, 89-79.
The loss dropped Atlanta into a tie with Indiana for 10th place with identical 5-14 records. Connecticut swept the season series against Indiana and plays the Dream in its regular-season finale on Sept. 11.
Should the Sun make the playoffs, they would join the 2012 New York Liberty and 2015 Los Angeles Sparks as the only teams in WNBA history to lose their first five-ormore games and make the playoffs.
New York lost its first five games in 2012. Los Angeles started 0-7 and 2-12.
Kelsey Mitchell had 16 points and five assists and Teaira McCowan added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Fever, which have lost seven straight.
Connecticut led for all but 1 minute, 2 seconds and never trailed. It shot 51.4% as it ransacked Indiana inside the paint. It had a 54-30 edge in points in the paint and made 21 of 22 free throws. The Sun also turned it over just six times. They scored 23 off of Indiana's 19 turnovers.
"I can always nitpick, but we were locked in defensively," Miller said. "Fifty-four points in the paint ... we did a really nice job in a big game, in an important game.
"We know we've been chunky, a little bit inconsistent to say the least, offensively. Tonight, we did a lot of the little things. We took care of the ball. We had good screening angles. There was a commitment to get touches in the paint."
Connecticut scored 12 of the game's first 14 points and led at halftime, 47-37.
Jones' putback gave the Sun a 6150 edge with four minutes left in the third quarter. They led by double digits the rest of the game.
Natisha Hiedeman's layup gave Connecticut its largest lead, 96-74, with 1:10 left in the game.
"I'm telling you, we will point back to last night's dinner if this team continues to ascend over the next few years," Miller said. "Friday night was big for us." n.griffen@theday.com