HARTFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut Sun knew they were the underdogs entering the WNBA Finals against the Las Vegas Aces, but they were confident in their ability to prove everyone wrong after doing just that in the semifinals against Chicago.
So far, though, that hasn’t been the case. The Sun have dropped the first two games of the best-of-five series, most recently an 85-71 loss in Game 2 on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
Connecticut will be back on home court with a chance to keep their season alive on Thursday night. Game 3 is set to tip at 9 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Here are five takeaways from the series so far:
Championship on the line
The Sun have talked about their championship aspirations all season after coming up just short each of the last few years. Now they return home down 0-2 in the series and on the brink of elimination entering Game 3.
History is not on Connecticut’s side. Teams that have gone down 0-2 in best-of-five WNBA postseason series have never gone on to win, coming up short in all 15 prior instances, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
However, it is worth noting that the Sun are 3-0 in elimination games this postseason. They defeated Dallas in Game 3 on the road and won Games 4 and 5 against the Sky in the semifinals.
“You can’t think big picture,” Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller said. “That becomes overwhelming and daunting and feels, at times, bigger. It’s too big. So you’ve got to drill it down and we’ll get back to work with our preparation for Game 3, and all we talk about is Game 3. And in particular, all we are going to talk about is the first quarter, and that’s our approach.
“I think if you start thinking we have to win three in a row, we have to do those kind of things, it becomes big. So we are going to talk about Game 3 and Game 3 only and be ready for that first quarter.”
Can’t tame the Aces trio
The Sun couldn’t slow down the three-headed monster of A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum on Tuesday night.
The trio combined for 67 points on 61.9% (26 of 42) shooting. Wilson had 26 points on 10 of 13 shooting along with 10 rebounds. The scoring performance set a new Aces franchise record and it was her fifth straight game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. Gray had 21 points, eight assists, three rebounds and three steals. Plum had 20 points, seven assists and three rebounds.
Connecticut had its best chance to take one on the road on Sunday when Plum was having an off game, scoring just six points on 1 of 9 shooting. But with the star guard looking like herself again, the Sun didn’t stand much of a chance.
“This was a huge, huge deal because I don’t want to say (she) was in a slump but she wasn’t KP,” Wilson said of Plum. “It’s a statement game and it puts a lot of people on notice. I think within herself, she understands that we need her, and for her to come out and do the things that she did is really good for us. So the growth in her, the sky is the limit when it comes to KP and the growth she has in this league.”
Sun outplayed in the paint
The Sun have played through the paint all season. They averaged 39.6 points per game there during the regular season — which ranked second in the league — and 46.8 points in the paint across their five playoff wins this year entering this series.
Being able to outscore Las Vegas 40-22 in the paint in Game 1 was a positive takeaway for Connecticut, despite the loss. That certainly wasn’t the case in Game 2, however. The Aces ended the night with a 46-28 scoring edge inside.
The 28 points in the paint is the lowest total for the Sun in that area of the floor all postseason. With point guard play not there, the Sun shooting just 21.4% (3 of 14) from 3-point range and a lack of off-ball movement throughout the night, the offense didn’t stand much of a chance to keep up with the high-powered Aces.
“They flipped points in the paint and just dominated that area,” Miller said. “And it was mostly off the bounce. There were some slips and other things but it was mostly off the bounce and a lot of times, not every time, but a lot of times it was just one-on-one, and Kelsey led the charge there, just was relentless in the paint.”
Sun lacking on the boards
The Sun haven’t been the strongest offensive team on first looks all season. Rather, they’ve relied on winning the battle on the boards and getting second-chance points to keep them in games.
Though it didn’t end up in the win column, Connecticut did just that in Game 1 to make things close. The Sun had a 38-33 rebounding edge over the Aces. They grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and scored 10 second-chance points from those.
In Game 2, the rebounding battle was even at 34-34. The Sun grabbed just six offensive rebounds, which is tied for their second fewest this postseason. They still managed to score nine points off those, but that number could have been much higher and a huge boost to a struggling offense if they had been more active on the boards.
“They were really trying not to let us get the o-boards,” Alyssa Thomas said. “I think Game 1 we were pretty successful on getting to the o-boards and second chances. For us, we have to take better shots at times. We took a lot of quick shots that it makes us hard to get in position to rebound. Yeah, we just go back, watch video and adjust and we’ll be ready for Game 3.”
Connecticut needs to get DeWanna Bonner going
DeWanna Bonner has often been the X-factor for the Sun throughout this postseason run. She’s the only player on the team who has won a championship before and her leadership was credited as Connecticut rallied to beat Chicago in the semifinals.
The Sun are 5-1 when Bonner has scored at least 12 points this postseason. They have not won a single game when she’s been held to single digits.
Bonner has been cold all series. She went 1 of 9 from the floor for three points and missed the final shot to win Game 1. On Tuesday night, she again went 1 of 9 from the floor, scoring two points in Game 2.
If the Sun want a chance to extend this finals series and keep their championship hopes alive they’ll need to find a way to get Bonner going.
