UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The Sky are 2-1 in postseason Game 4 scenarios.
The franchise's first opportunity to play in a Game 4 was in 2016 when they faced Candace Parker and the eventual WNBA championship-winning Los Angeles Sparks in the semifinals. Before that, the Sky failed to force a Game 4 in their 2014 trip to the WNBA Finals and were swept by the Phoenix Mercury.
In 2016 the Sky were down 2-0 in the best of five semifinal series against the Sparks and won Game 3 70-66. They avoided the sweep but lost in Game 4 handily, 95-75. Parker finished with 29 points and five rebounds.
The Sky’s next Game 4 opportunity wouldn’t come until last year’s semifinal series against the Sun. After splitting the first two games of the series the Sky closed out the series at Wintrust Arena. Courtney Vandersloot went off for a team-high 19 points, Kahleah Copper had 18 and Parker finished with 17
In Game 4 of the last year’s Finals, the Mercury had a nine-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but a three-point barrage by Allie Quigley led the Sky’s comeback. She finished with a team-high 26 points shooting 50% from three-point range.
Tomorrow the Sky will play in their fourth Game 4. Monday afternoon the Sky had an optional shoot-around practice that the entire team was present for except Copper. They followed it with a film session.
“Closing a series is really hard,” Parker said. “Especially on another team’s home court. Right now, we’re worried about going back and fixing what we could get better at.”
Jones and Jones
In the final three minutes of Sunday’s Game 3 Curt Miller subbed his reigning MVP, Jones, our for his team’s 2022 sixth player of the year Brionna Jones.
Jonquel had two shot attempts in the second and third quarters of Game 3 and made her first shot attempt in the fourth at the six-minute mark. Emma Meesseman has defended Jonquel well throughout the entire series with the help of Parker and Azurá Stevens. She’s averaging 13.7 points and eight rebounds in the semifinals.
“I have to make those calls, difficult decisions all the time,” Miller said when asked why he took Jonquel out. “They at times don’t come with as many doubles to Bri Jones. So at times, do we get the ball inside with spacing that we want at times because they send so much attention to JJ? It’s kind of a feel.”
He subbed Jonquel back into the game for Brionna with 54 seconds to play in the game and his team trailing by six. Jonquel exited Mohegan Sun Arena before Miller was even done with his post-game press conference.
Looking ahead
The Las Vegas Aces are in a similar situation as the Sky after beating the Seattle Storm in Game 3 on the road.
The Aces and Storm scored 12 points in the final 11.3 seconds of regulation. A’ja Wilson had a double-double with a game-high 34 points and 11 rebounds in her team’s overtime win. Chelsea Gray finished with 29 points and 12 assists.
“I can’t think of a back-and-forth, between two heavyweights, like this game,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said after the game. “It was just big shot after big shot after big shot. And you’ve got two players who are in the prime of their career going at it. You really can’t draw it up any better from a spectator viewpoint.”
What awaits the winner of the Sky/Sun semifinal series is a juggernaut, regardless of whether that’s the Storm led by Breanna Stewart or the Aces led by Wilson.
