WNBA playoffs: Sun tweak lineup, dig deep to keep season alive

Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner have the same routine for every home game.

After shootaround and media obligations, they go out to eat, just the two of them, at a local restaurant called When Pigs Fly. Thomas orders an omelet, and Bonner gets bacon and eggs.

Since being drafted in 2014, Thomas has spent her entire WNBA career with the Sun. Bonner has been in Connecticut since 2020. Together they’ve built a franchise and a life, making the WNBA Finals in 2022 and getting engaged in 2023.

“Connecticut feels like home,” Thomas said before the playoffs started.

Connecticut Sun guard Tyasha Harris reacts after making a 3-point basket during the second half of Game 4 against the Minnesota Lynx, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

But Thomas and Bonner are aware that when this season ends, the basketball aspect of their lives is likely to change. The franchise they helped build is at a turning point. Both will be free agents, and at 37, retirement is creeping up on Bonner.

“I want to win. I’m old,” Bonner said Sunday with a laugh. “My timeline is very, very slim.”

Brionna Jones and DiJonai Carrington will also be free agents, making it unlikely the team’s core will stay together.

The Sun played like a team with something to lose Sunday. After years of being close, they still have title aspirations. That dream was on the line in Game 4, as Connecticut faced elimination against the Lynx.

The Sun stayed alive, defeating the Lynx 92-82 and forcing a Game 5.

“I was going to leave it all out there,” Bonner said. “This was do or die.”

The Sun trailed 50-43 at the half, but Bonner said she felt confident in her team. They’d been getting the looks they wanted and playing hard, she said. Everything else would come.

“I don’t think anyone in that locker room was ready to go their separate ways,” Bonner said. “We enjoy being around each other, and we’ve been around each other for a long time. We just kind of buckled down and said, ‘This is it. There are 20 minutes left. Let’s put it all out there and see what happens.’ ”

What happened was a 49-32 run by Connecticut in the second half.

Bonner scored seven of her 18 points in the third quarter to help ignite the run, and the rest of the Sun followed suit.

Ty Harris finished with 20 points to lead Connecticut in scoring. She was 7 of 11 from the field and 4 of 5 from beyond the arc, providing a much-needed lift from 3-point range.

Harris didn’t play in Game 1 of the series after injuring her ankle in the first round against Indiana. She played sparingly in the last two games and didn’t record a point.

After the injury, Marina Mabrey started in Harris’ place, and coach Stephanie White said she wasn’t sure if it was the right time to bring Harris back into the starting lineup. The Sun coaching staff spent all of Saturday discussing the decision, but didn’t make the official choice until around midnight.

“We knew we needed to get her [Harris] more minutes,” White said. “It’s not easy to be in that position coming back from injury and then coming off the bench. It wasn’t really giving her the best opportunity for success.”

The switch worked, and Harris got her offense going early, scoring on a pull-up jumper with 7:29 left in the first quarter. She scored seven points in the first half and then helped the Sun close things out in the second, when she really heated up.

Harris hit two of her four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to close out the game.

“My teammates, they instill confidence in me every day,” Harris said. “And my coaches, they be on me, so whenever my number is called, I’m just ready to go out there and do what I have to do.”

Thomas also stepped up late in the game, scoring eight points in the fourth quarter and assisting on both of Harris’ 3-pointers. She was just two rebounds shy of a triple-double, finishing with 18 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.

“She steps up in big moments,” White said. “We put the ball in her hands a lot in the fourth quarter to orchestrate our offense, and she made plays for herself and others. That’s what she does.”

The victory means Connecticut’s title hopes are still alive, but the Sun will have to close the series on the road in Minnesota. A win there would lead to a Finals matchup with the Liberty, who eliminated the Aces earlier on Sunday.

The Sun know it only gets harder from here, but once the season ends, things will change. And as Bonner said, they aren’t quite ready to go their separate ways.