Peak performances
Sun winning when it counts, shocking Sparks to face Aces in league semifinals
Two weeks into the WNBA season, it was easy to begin worrying about the Connecticut Sun. Adjusting to life without three starters from last year’s run, including star center Jonquel Jones, the 2019 WNBAfinalists were winless through their first five games. They saw little production outside of Alyssa Thomas and prized free agency acquisition DeWanna Bonner, and in a 22-game regular season, each of their losses was magnified.
People on the outside may have lost faith in what the Sun could accomplish this summer, but no one in that locker room did. An upward climb was still in front of them, but so was a simple goal: finish in the top two-thirds of the standings to secure a playoff spot. If the Sun could get there, and play single-elimination games in a season without home-court advantage or travel, who knows what could happen?
Here’s what: The seventhseeded Sun are now bound for the WNBA semifinals, following Thursday’s 73-59 victory in a win-or-go-home matchup against the No. 3 Los Angeles Sparks. They’ll face the No. 1 Las Vegas Aces in a best-of-five series beginning Sunday at 1 p.m..
The Sun’s growth on both ends of the floor since that 0-5 start cannot be understated. But all along, they had the right ingredients brewing to surprise some folks come playoff time.
Defense wins... playoff games
The “defense wins championships” adage may be a fallacy, but especially given their inconsistent offense, defense certainly won the Connecticut Sun a lot of games this season — and it won them their most important one of the summer on Thursday.
The Sun held the Sparks, who were without Nneka Ogwumike (migraine), to a season-low 59 points and an abysmal 2-for-18 shooting from deep. Most significantly, Jasmine Thomas and Briann January did a masterful job in limiting Chelsea Gray, one of the best point guards in the league, to four points and zero assists.
Connecticut’s success on this end of the floor shouldn’t be a surprise. In fact, with so many stellar individual defenders to work with, Sun coach Curt Miller predicted before the season that this team had the chance to be “special” defensively. Fast forward a few months, they entered the playoffs with the fourth-ranked defense in the league.
“We have felt at times like we’re a top four team in this league. We just haven’t been able to put it all together at the offensive end,” Miller said. “But defense, rebounding and low turnovers can carry the day, certainly in a playoff game. We defended, we rebounded and we controlled the ball.”
Vets know how to win
Miller has reiterated in recent weeks how the Sun prioritized going after players with championship pedigree during free agency. It’s no coincidence that Bonner, January, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and midseason pickup Essence Carson have each won at least one title.
That veteran presence and winning spirit, Miller said, is what helped the team not give up after those disappointing first five games. Those players have also set the tone in the postseason, helping the Sun come out fairly unwavering in both high-stakes playoff matchups against Chicago and L.A.
Thursday night, the Sun burst out of the gates to go up 22-8 by the end of the first quarter.
“That’s credit to our veteran team and our approach,” January said. “We knew we just had to stay level and execute. It’s one and done. You have to show up, you have to execute or you’re going home. You can’t think about big picture. You have to think one
possession at a time, and that’s one of the great things of having a veteran team.”
January hit two early 3s to swing momentum in the Sun’s favor. Bonner ultimately finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Carson even saw extended minutes off the bench with Alyssa Thomas in foul trouble.
“We’re built for this time,” Miller said of his title-winning players. “They’ve won. They’ve been here. It’s not too big for them.”
Both Thomases, veterans who were within 10 minutes of winning a championship last season, also came to play. Alyssa finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Jasmine (10 points) was a factor on offense and defense.
Fueled by the #disrespeCT
After being fueled by outsiders’ “#disrespeCT” in their Finals run last season (many did not pick the Sun to beat the Sparks and force a Game 5 against the Mystics), the Sun are similarly feeling under-appreciated this time around. And as last year demonstrated, nothing motivates this team more than feeling overlooked, whether the “haters” are real or overblown.
After the game, the Sun tweeted out proof of what they deem “#disrespeCT:” No one on ESPNW’s panel of writers picked the Sun to advance to the semifinals.
“Our players felt like no one thought out there that we could beat LA,” Miller said. “We’re going to use [that chip on their shoulders] even if it’s not happening. We’re definitely going to use the disrespect card and believe we are truly the underdogs going into this [semifinal] series.”
“Nobody picked us to make the playoffs, and we’re in the playoffs. And we’ve won two singlegame eliminations, and they’re still doubting us,” Alyssa Thomas added. “We love when people doubt us, but as you can see tonight, we mean business. We’re a scary team to play in the playoffs, and we’re just ready to play Vegas.”