The Connecticut Sun will play another day after winning Game 3 105-76 on Thursday thanks to a historic triple-double performance from Alyssa Thomas.
Thomas finished Game 3 with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists. The Sun have now won all four of their elimination games in the postseason, beating Dallas in the first round, beating Chicago in Games 4 and 5, and now beating Las Vegas in Game 3 to force a Game 4.
“We were struggling offensively and we finally got to play at home and our teammates were making shots.” Thomas said. Per AP. “Without them, none of this would have been possible.”
Alyssa Thomas achieves the first triple-double in WNBA Finals history 📝 pic.twitter.com/ps4YVUbsqq
– WSLAM (@wslam) September 16, 2022
When coach Kurt Miller was asked about Thomas and her performance, he also praised Thomas’ strength and consistent effort.
“The amazing thing is that it happens every day. She doesn’t know any other way to play,” Miller said. “So if we’re playing and it’s not 75% or it’s not a skeleton or it’s not 50%, the way AT plays is different and there’s a difference. She’s probably the toughest athlete I’ve ever coached. But she is the most consistently hard-working athlete I have ever coached. I know what I’m going to get each day. The show she plays in is what makes her special. “She doesn’t know how to act any other way.”
“She’s probably the toughest athlete I’ve ever coached.”@CurtMillerWBB It speaks of strength. @athomas_25 After she achieved a triple-double with 16 PTS, 15 REB, and 11 AST!!#More pic.twitter.com/r5k4qngheO
– WNBA (@WNBA) September 16, 2022
After Las Vegas got off to a fast start, scoring 9 of the first 11 points of the game to force a quick Connecticut timeout, Miller’s timeout steadied the Sun and allowed Connecticut to score 32 aces the rest of the first quarter, including 25 points. It helped us get ahead by -10. One of the final 29 points of the opening frame.
The Sun dominated the paint on Thursday, scoring 64 points in the final and holding Las Vegas to 26 points. Connecticut took advantage to outscore Las Vegas 53-34 with 1:44 left in the second quarter and the Aces went on a 9-0 run, including Kelsey Plum’s buzzer-beating triple from just inside halfcourt. After halftime, Connecticut quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead and had a 16-point lead they couldn’t relinquish.
“Connecticut came in with a better mental approach than we did,” coach Becky Hammon said. “I don’t know if we thought we would just show up and they would hand us the trophy, but we should know better by now that they are a very resilient team. “If you sum up this team, they’re physical, they’re very resilient, they have a kind of battle mentality, and we didn’t fit that team tonight.”
Las Vegas takes a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series heading into Game 4 on Sunday in Connecticut.
