Alyssa Thomas (16 points, 15 rebounds and 11 helps) tape-recorded the veryfirst triple-double in WNBA Finals history and Connecticut lastly discovered a method to cool off red-hot Las Vegas guard Chelsea Gray as the Sun won 105-76 at house Thursday night to force a Game 4.
“They simply kicked our ass in every method possible,” Aces coach Becky Hammon stated. “If there was a stat on psychological durability and physicality, they would have kicked us there, too.”
But priorto Connecticut won its 4th removal videogame of the 2022 postseason, there were scoring runs — a entire lot of them.
After Vegas leapt out to a 9-2 lead, Connecticut reeled off a 25-4 run to end the veryfirst quarter, structure as much as a 23-point lead in the veryfirst half. The Sun weathered an Aces run right priorto the break that cut the lead to 9, then scored 3 fast baskets to open the 4th quarter and close out the win. With the Sun securely in control with less than 5 minutes to play, Hammon pulled her beginners. Game 4 will idea Sunday at 4 p.m. ET. The Aces still lead the series 2-1. Both franchises are lookingfor their initially WNBA title.
WNBA playoffs 2022: How Sun and Aces got here
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The genuine story Thursday night, though, was defense. In what may haveactually been the modification of the series, Sun coach Curt Miller tapped 6-foot-4 Sun guard DeWanna Bonner — who has an remarkable wingspan that extends beyond her height — to check Gray.
Gray endedup with 11 points and 7 helps, however she did not rating in the 2nd half and just tried 7 shots all night. (Nine of Gray’s points came on 3 successive 3s she hit when Bonner was on the bench.)
Bonner’s length troubled Gray whenever they were matched up. She blanketed Gray, who was shooting a blistering 60.5% from the field in 8 playoff videogames, averaging 23.3 points and 7.1 helps.
Bonner stated she attempted to “just stay locked in” when protecting Gray, utilizing her length to “limit her from getting a tidy appearance at the basket priorto she even got to her areas.”
“I think it was a group effort,” Bonner stated of slowing Gray. “Now we gotta figure out another videogame strategy to do it onceagain.”
Perhaps more significantly, though, the veteran lastly revealed up offensively.
After scoring simply a integrated 5 points in Games 1 and 2, Bonner amountedto 18 points, to go with 6 rebounds, 5