Once again, Sun face elimination
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Four times Connecticut has faced elimination this year in the WNBA playoffs and four times the Sun have responded with a convincing win to stay alive.
The most convincing came Thursday, when Connecticut bounced back from two losses in Las Vegas to rout the Aces 105-76 at home in Game 3 of the Finals, putting six players in double figures and outscoring Vegas 6426 in the paint.
The margin of victory was the largest in a WNBA Finals elimination game.
“If you could encapsulate Connecticut, it’s physical, and very resilient,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “They’re physical, and they’re resilient, and they have a kind of a battle-type mentality.”
The Sun showed that in beating Dallas in a deciding third game in the first round, and again in winning two straight after falling behind 2-1 to Chicago in the semifinals, including a 24-point win in the first of the two elimination games in that series.
The team will have to win two more elimination games, including Sunday at home, to take home the organization’s first WNBA title.
“I think it’s just the M.O. of our team,” said forward Jonquel Jones, who scored 20 points Thursday. “When our backs are against the wall, we play really good basketball. And sometimes you wish that you didn’t put yourself in those positions. But that’s done now. All we can do is focus on the next game. And I just feel like in the playoffs, anytime our backs is going against the wall, you see us come out.”
Connecticut made several successful adjustments in Game 3, including assigning 6-foot-4 DeWanna Bonner to guard the red-hot Chelsea Gray. The Aces guard scored just 11 points after averaging 23.3 over her first eight games of the playoffs.
Bonner, who made just two of her 18 shots in the first two games of the series also erupted from that slump, scoring 18 points while going 8 of 15 from the field and buoying her teammates.
“There’s no secret that she has championship pedigree, and has played on some great teams,” Sun coach Curt Miller said. “And so we have a group that really looks up to her. So when she plays with energy. … It just gives the rest of our crew so much confidence.”