UNCASVILLE — The Connecticut Sun are one victory away from advancing in the WNBA Playoffs and taking another step toward their goal of bringing home the franchise’s first championship. But the No. 3 Sun know the No. 6 Indiana won’t be an easy out despite a sluggish performance by the Fever in Game 1.
Connecticut leads the series 1-0 after a decisive 93-69 win on Sunday. Sun superstar Alyssa Thomas logged the fourth postseason triple-double of her career in Game 1, and Marina Mabrey set a WNBA record for points off the bench in a playoff game with 27. The No. 1 defense in the WNBA held Indiana below 70 points for the first time all season and limited rookie phenom Caitlin Clark to just 11.
With a win in Game 2 on Wednesday, the Sun would clinch their sixth consecutive berth to the WNBA semifinals, where they would face the winner of the first-round series between the No. 2 Minnesota Lynx and No. 6 Phoenix Mercury (Minnesota leads, 1-0 with Game 2 on Wednesday).
“We challenged them on the defensive end of the floor, which they always do a great job on that end, but we needed to take it to another level and I thought that they accepted that challenge,” Sun coach Stephanie White said postgame Sunday. “Obviously there’s still some room for improvement for us, there’s no question about that, but I thought the way we really shared the ball on offense was critical.
“We’re a team that does like to create some offense from our defense, and we did that, but I thought our half-court execution, our pace, our willingness to make the extra pass or two to get the best shot on the floor … was really good. We slowed down a little bit in that third quarter, but we recovered. It felt like we got stronger as the game went on, and that’s what it’s going to take.”
The Sun-Fever series has already drawn massive attention, averaging 1.8 million viewers on ABC while going head-to-head with multiple NFL games on Sunday. It was the only one of four first-round games aired on a national network, but with the increased visibility has also come increased vitriol.
Sun guard DiJonai Carrington, who has been one of the best perimeter guards in the WNBA all season, spent the last 48 hours facing hate from Clark’s fanbase online after she accidentally poked the star point guard near the eye while reaching to make a play on the ball. Clark herself laughed at the idea that the moment was anything more than an accident, and Carrington said that while she can’t help but see the online rhetoric, it hasn’t impacted how she carries herself on or off the court.
“That’s just me as a person, and basketball doesn’t change that,” Carrington said Tuesday. “That’s my personality whether it comes to treating people the right way, whether it comes to racism, whether it comes to basketball. My teammates know, I speak up whether it’s about the scout or where we’re going to eat tomorrow. I’ve never just sat back and been a bystander and let things go around and circulate. That’s just me.”
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Connecticut is one of the most veteran teams in the league with more than 200 combined games of playoff experience on the roster, which gives the Sun a leg up in managing the postseason spotlight. Indiana’s entire starting lineup played their first playoff game ever on Sunday, and it showed in one of the young team’s worst collective shooting performances since the Olympic break in July. Clark went just 2-for-13 on 3-pointers, and the Fever hit a combined 40.3% from the field to the Sun’s 49.3%.
“I think it’s just knowing what to expect; knowing what to expect from the environment, understanding that the margin for error is so much smaller” White said Tuesday. “I thought we did a better job of taking care of the ball, probably better than we had all year (on Sunday). Our communication was better, so I think from that standpoint, it’s just the understanding, the sense of urgency, understanding the margin difference, and being locked in and ready to go. Like, you don’t get another shot.”
But consistency has been a struggle all year for Connecticut despite its experience, and the team doesn’t have a strong track record in series play. The Sun have lost at least one game in their last seven consecutive playoff series, including Game 2 in the first round of the 2023 playoffs against the Minnesota Lynx. Connecticut may also be without starting point guard Tyasha Harris, who is day-to-day after suffering a right ankle injury
Ending the series on Wednesday is a huge priority for the Sun to avoid traveling to Indianapolis for a Game 3. The Fever’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse has been one of the most difficult places to play this year, and Connecticut suffered its only loss over five meetings with the Fever, 84-80 on the road in late August. Indiana has won 60% of its games at Gainbridge in 2024 but has also dropped nearly two-thirds of its matchups on the road.
“We’re not really thinking about last year. It’s about now,” White said. “Certainly, we don’t want to have to go back to Indiana. We don’t want to have to go back to playing in front of their sold-out crowd and allowing them to play in their home arena, but we also know that they want that, so we’ve got to be ready to go. I think we’re just focused on being the best that we can be (Wednesday) night.”
How to watch
Site: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville
Team records: Sun 29-12; Fever 20-21
Time: 7:30 p.m., Wednesday
Last meeting: 93-69, Sun in Game 1 on Sunday
TV: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN+
