NFL
By: Stephen Garner
Beware.
In a battle of the best from each conference, for sole possession of the “Best in the W” title, it would be the Connecticut Sun who came away victorious, winning 76-62.
Not only did the Sun win, but they would cap off a season series sweep of the dominant Las Vegas Aces in convincing fashion.
It’s all the more impressive when applying context to this brewing rivalry, looking back at how the 2020 season ended for the Sun in the Wubble, at the hands of the Aces in one of the best series of the 2020 WNBA Playoffs.
That 2-1 comeback series win from the Aces was loud.
Fast forward back to this season, The Aces are the league leaders in PPG at 89.3 and have scored south of 70 points in just five games this season. Three of said five came against, guess who? These Connecticut Sun.
Even more, the 2020 Aces averaged 88.7 PPG, pacing the league no different than this season. When looking back at their aforementioned 2020 five-game semi-finals, the Aces scored south of 70 three separate times there as well. The first two of that nature went convincingly in favor of the Sun, while the series finale, in dramatic fashion, went in favor of the Aces to advance.
Bringing it back to the present day, this says a whole lot about the Connecticut Sun. They’re now at the top of the top, as they’ve been for a good majority of the season, yet when discussions are had regarding “who will win the 20201 WNBA Finals,” they’re typically the third or fourth team in that consideration.
They have the best defense in the W, allowing an impressive 71.5 PPG. Opponents have an overall shooting split of 41.0/32.4 and attempt just 15.8 free throws a night. They’re seventh in steals per game at 6.8, third in blocks per game at 4.7, and 7th in forcing turnovers at 12.6.
What the Sun did, specifically to the Aces, was take away their quick-hitting offense. That weapon typically allows the Aces to control the pace and run up the score while their array of offensive weapons establish a rhythm.
The Sun forced the Aces, time and time again, to play in the half-court. Taking the ball out of the net, negating their transition and secondary break offense. Then, in the halfcourt, the Sun were disciplined in their scouting report and forced the Aces to either run their sets all the way through, which in turn put their backs against the clock and rushed shots, or completely shut down their sets forcing them to play more one on one ball than Coach Laimbeer would’ve liked.
Also, the Aces hum at the frequency they do because they take care of the ball, averaging just 12 turnovers per game (good for 3rd best).
Last night, they turned the ball over 14 separate times. Past that, it was truly the live-ball turnovers, 11 steals for the Sun (almost double their aforementioned per game average), that put the Aces typically solid defense in extremely disadvantageous predicaments time and time again.
For the Sun to do what they did while MVP front-runner Jonquel Jones, aka JJ, struggled to find her rhythm was attention-garnering.
They would get big-time and impressive performances from DeWanna Bonner (18 points 2-5 from 3, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks), Briann January with 19 points (2-4 from 3), 3 assists, 3 steals, and 12 points in the first half, Brionna Jones (15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals), then Jasmine Thomas (8 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal).
These four would enjoy great tandem play, providing timely production.
Two instances would be the biggest determinants in the game:
- Two timely 6-0 Sun runs with plays like this one… ⤵️
Gymnast? Hooper? Both??
AND-1 for @BriannJanuary with the somersault 🤸♀️ finish 😤😂
Watch the second half on League Pass now 💻 pic.twitter.com/aWxVZlNyL4
— WNBA (@WNBA) August 25, 2021
to both end the first half and start the second half culminated in far too much momentum for the Aces to completely overcome.
- Back-to-back big-time rejections from the ever-active DeWanna Bonner, whose length stifled reigning MVP, A’ja Wilson, all night. A made three from Bonner with 5:55 stopped an Aces push, then the two aforementioned blocks at 4:41 and 4:17 respectively all but sealed the conclusion of this game.
After losing the third quarter, the Suns held the Aces to just eight points. One final stamp on this one.
Connecticut was dominant, +9 on the glass including +7 in the second half alone, and a +3 from deep.
Doing what the Sun have done, sans Alyssa Thomas mind you, has them perfectly positioned to defeat the odds.
Beware.
*All stats and information used come directly from basketball-reference.com unless stated otherwise, and are accurate entering play on 9.25.21*
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