The Connecticut Sun lost 2-1 in the WNBA Finals after taking Game 4 with a 105-76 win on Thursday. The Sun fell 4-0 in qualifying play after beating Dallas and Chicago twice before Game 3 on Thursday night.
Connecticut dominated Game 4 thanks to Alyssa Thomas’ historic triple-double outing and her ability to dominate the paint. The Sun scored a finals-record 64 points at the rim and held Las Vegas to 26 points. The Sun also got a resurgent performance from DeWanna Bonner, who had his best Finals performance ever with 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Jonquel Jones followed with a team-high 20 points, five rebounds and four assists on 8-12 shooting from the field, including 14 points in the paint. When asked about dominance at the rim, Jones said, “That’s been the MO of the playoffs,” admitting that Lisa Leslie basically told her that dominating inside would help Connecticut win.
“That was the MO of the playoffs.” Jones said. Per AP. “We even won the series in Chicago, where the team won the paint. That’s where it’s done. I spoke with Lisa Leslie a long time ago and she said that to win a championship you have to win the paint. I see it now, I feel it now. I can go back and see that she was right.”
Jonquel Jones talks about advice he once received from WNBA legend Lisa Leslie:
“If you want to win a championship, you have to get in the paint.”— Christina Williams (@Khristina) September 16, 2022
When coach Becky Hammon was asked what Connecticut did differently to beat the Aces, she could only say there was nothing different. “They just worked harder.”
“They didn’t do anything different,” Hammon said. “They just worked harder.”
She also described Connecticut as a “physical and very resilient” team that entered Game 3 with a “battle mentality.” Hammon also candidly admitted that Connecticut had “harassed us in every way possible.” On Thursday.
“If you can encapsulate Connecticut, it’s physical and very resilient,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said of the Sun. “They have a kind of battle mentality, and we didn’t fit that in any department tonight. “They attacked us in every possible way.”
“They didn’t do anything significantly different. They just worked harder.” – Becky Hammon @TheNextHoops #WNBAFinals
— Howard Megdal (@howardmegdal) September 16, 2022
Connecticut will look to tie the best-of-five series against Las Vegas on Saturday at 4 PM EST.
