Sun can clinch No. 4 playoff seed with win over Mystics tonight
The Connecticut Sun expected to finish their WNBA regular season with a two-game West Coast road trip.
Instead, they will take a detour to the nation's capital tonight to play a makeup game against the Washington Mystics at Capital One Arena (7:30, CSN).
The game was originally scheduled to be played July 28, but heavy rain led to a leaky roof and resulted in a postponement. Following Tuesday's game, the Sun head west to close out the regular season at Phoenix (Friday, 10 p.m.) and Los Angeles (Sunday, 4 p.m.)
Tuesday's game is crucial for both teams.
Connecticut (20-11) can clinch no worse than a No. 4 seed with a victory, meaning a first-round bye in the WNBA playoffs and a home game on Sept. 10. The Sun currently lead New York (20-12) by a half-game for the No. 3 seed.
Washington (17-14) has also clinched a playoff berth, but is trying to hang on to the No. 5 seed and a first-round home playoff game.
Minnesota (24-7) and Los Angeles (24-8) have clinched the top two seeds and a pair of playoff byes in the eightteam field.
The Sun should be well-rested as they try to bounce back from a 96-83 loss to the Chicago Sky in Friday night's regular season home finale at Mohegan Sun Arena, a game that ended a stretch of five games in 11 days.
"When we looked at this stretch, we thought it was going to be really, really difficult when the schedule came out," Connecticut coach Curt Miller said. "We almost got through it, but it caught up to us (Friday night) and we looked like the tired team."
The Sun and Mystics have split a pair of games this season. Second-year center Jonquel Jones has had a breakout season for Connecticut, averaging 15.9 points and a WNBA-best 11.7 rebounds per-game. The 6-foot-6 Jones and forward Alyssa Thomas (14.5 points, 6.7 rebounds) provide a strong inside presence for the Sun, who lead the WNBA in scoring average (87.2 ppg.).
Washington is led by all-star forward Elena Delle Donne, who recently missed six games with a left thumb injury, but is averaging 19.1 points and 6.5 rebounds, including a 29-point, 11-rebound effort in Saturday's loss to Dallas.