The Connecticut Sun stumbled their way to an 89-81 loss against the Las Vegas Aces at Michelob Ultra Arena on Tuesday night.
The Sun fell to 6-3 on the year, and the Aces improved to 9-1.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Sun fell back to earth on Tuesday, as their talent and coaching disadvantages became evident just minutes into their matchup with the Aces. Head coach Curt Miller, assistant coach Brandi Poole and forward Joyner Holmes remained absent due to the WNBA’s health and safety protocols, but the Sun were also playing their third game without captain Jasmine Thomas after she tore her ACL. One game after overcoming all of those odds, Connecticut struggled to play their brand of basketball, allowing Las Vegas to dictate the game.
Las Vegas wanted to get out and run on Tuesday, and they did exactly that, forcing 14 turnovers and playing a fast paced brand of basketball. That hampered the Sun, as they looked to play in transition as a response to Las Vegas, which essentially took reigning MVP Jonquel Jones out of the game as she only had four field goal attempts.
Las Vegas was healthy, fully staffed and dictated the game. That was their recipe to success.
STARS OF THE GAME
— A’ja Wilson is a star and she showed it Tuesday night, scoring 24 points while grabbing 14 boards in the wire-to-wire victory.
— Kelsey Plum controlled the pace of Tuesday’s game, pushing the basketball on almost every possession to set her offense up successfully. She finished 18 points and seven assists.
— Brionna Jones was great again for the Sun, scoring 12 points off the bench in relief of Jonquel Jones.
WAGER WATCH
DraftKings Sportsbook had the line set at -3.5 in favor of the Aces ahead of Tuesday’s game. Things eventually came down to the wire, but Las Vegas’ victory was never in doubt. At -115 odds a $100 bet would have paid out $185 total.
UP NEXT
The Sun will stay in Las Vegas to face the Aces for a second consecutive game Thursday. The contest will not count toward the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup standings and will tip off at 10 p.m. ET at Michelob Ultra Arena with full coverage of the game taking place on NESN+.
