Sun Spank Sparks, Head to WNBA Semifinals Match-Up With Vegas

Sun center Brionna Jones (right) steals the ball from Sparks center Kristine Anigwe
during the first half of Connecticut's second-round victory over Los Angeles.

By Bob Phillips

BRADENTON, Fla.—It was a combination of Bombs Away a stingy defense that ultimately led to a
73-59 win by the Connecticut Sun over the Los Angeles Sparks in second-round WNBA playoff action. In the WNBA’s unique postseason format, both the first and second rounds are one-and-done affairs. That makes it a veritable “survival of the fittest” with virtually no margin of error for the participating teams.

One bad game and it’s “Hasta La Vista, Baby! See you in 2021!”

Before the game it was reported that LA’s star power forward Nneke Ogwumike would sit out the game with migraine headaches. Nneke’s younger sister and teammate, former Sun star Chiney, is taking the season off because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sun’s top player, Jonquel Jones, is sitting out the 2020 season for the same reason.

It was a slow start for Connecticut, which missed its first five shots from the field, before Brionna Jones hit a short jumper in the lane with 6:47 remaining in the first period. Then, however, it was off to the races for the Sun. Connecticut then raced out to a 22-8 lead at the first turn and never looked back. Defense remained the Sun calling card as they held LA to just 21 percent.

The Sparks came roaring back and cut the Sun lead to just six on a 10-0 run in the second period, but the Sun regained control of the game and as the second period ended Connecticut headed into the locker room with a commanding 39-23 lead.

That lead grew to 19 at the end of the third quarter, and when Briann January hit a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to give the Sun their largest lead of 20.

The Sparks' Candace Parker led all scorers with 22 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for the Sparks, who were without third-leading scorer Nneka Ogwumike, sidelined with a migraine. But a suffocating Connecticut defense held L.A.'s star guard Chelsea Gray was held to just four points.

Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with 19 points, while DeWanna Bonner put up a Double-Double with a 17-point, 13-rebound effort. Briann January (22) and Brionna Jones and Jasmine Thomas (10 points each) also scored in double digits for the Sun.

The Sparks came into the game as the league's top three-point shooting team at just under 40 percent from beyond the arc, but the Sun played outstanding perimeter defense, forcing the Sparks to miss their first 12 three-point attempts and holding L.A. To just 2-for-18 from beyond the arc. And the Sparks' 59 points were represented their lowest offensive output for the season.

“We have felt at times like we're a top-four team in this league,” Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller said after the game. “We just haven't been able to put it togeter at the offensive end. But defense, rebounding and low turnovers can carry the day—certainly in a playoff game. [Today] we defended, we rebounded and we controlled the ball.”

The Sun now move on to the semifinals where they will face the Las Vegas Aces in a best-three-of-five series. Game One will be on Sunday at 1 p.m. (ET) and the game will be televised live on ESPN.

—with staff reports

Connecticut Sun center Brionna Jones, right, steals the ball from Sparks center Kristine Anigwe during the first half of the Sun's second-round victory over Los Angeles.