UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The Connecticut Sun and Las Vegas Aces both face elimination in a high-stakes two-game slate on Sunday. After starting the semifinals with a win, he Sun have dropped two straight against the Minnesota Lynx, while the Aces responded to an 0-2 deficit with a blowout win against the New York Liberty to stay alive on Friday.
WNBA Playoffs: Sun, Aces look to stay alive in critical Game 4s against Lynx, Liberty
The Las Vegas Aces will once again fend off elimination against the New York Liberty, while the Minnesota Lynx will look to advance against the Connecticut Sun.
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
Now, both the Sun and Aces face 2-1 deficits — and must-wins — in Game 4.
First up, the Aces will host the Liberty at 3pm ET at Michelob ULTRA Center. The Aces would love to replicate everything that went right in Game 3, when they came away with a 95-81 win that wasn’t as close as the final score indicates. The keys to that one? The Aces defense finally clicked, and it limited the head of the snake for the Liberty: Sabrina Ionescu. After two strong postseason outings against Las Vegas, she finished with just 4 points on 1-7 FG and 5 turnovers in Game 3.
On the Aces side, Jackie Young came alive, exploding for 24 points on 10-18 shooting, while Kelsey Plum added 20 points on 7-11 shooting. Continued strong guard play will be key for Las Vegas if they are to even things up, as is the performance of three-time MVP A’ja Wilson, who finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds in Game 3.
New York will certainly adjust in Game 2, and the key will be to get Sabrina Ionescu going against a far more aggressive and blitz-heavy Aces defense.
“I thought that was probably our most complete game of the season. It’s the game I’ve been waiting for and believing in that they had,” coach Becky Hammon said in the post-game conference.
“They didn’t give me the light of day,” Ionescu said, per ESPN.
On the other side of the country, the Sun host the Lynx at 5pm ET at Mohegan Sun. Connecticut 90-81 in Game 3, with Napheesa Collier leading the way with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
Alyssa Thomas blasted her team’s performance after the loss.
“I think we got to realize that we didn’t get here by ourselves. We got here as a team, and moving the ball, and picking people apart,” Thomas said. “At this point, yeah you want it — but we’re not going to get over the hump without using each other. This was a poor display of what Connecticut basketball is about.”
If the Sun fall, another winning season will end in a semifinals elimination — last year, it came at the hands of the Liberty. If the Aces lose, their attempt at the rare WNBA three-peat will fall short. If either team wins, they’ll tie things up and their series will advance to a deciding Game 5. All of that is coming up on ESPN on Sunday.
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