BOSTON -- It was a monumental occasion for the Connecticut Sun franchise and the WNBA in the city of Boston on Tuesday night.
The Connecticut Sun took over the home of the NBA champion Boston Celtics by facing the Los Angeles Sparks at TD Garden. And the Sun made history with the regular-season game being played at the venue.
It was the first time TD Garden hosted a WNBA game and there was plenty of support for the Sun, even though their home is just over 100 miles away in Uncasville, Conn. TD Garden was sold-out for the contest, according to NBC Sports Boston, and the 19,156 tickets purchased were the most in Sun history.
The attendance was nearly double what the Sun has for a regular home game. Their home arena has a capacity of 10,000.
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It was also the third-highest attendance for a WNBA game this season. An influx of high-profiled rookies like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese saw some teams move games to bigger arenas -- Clark's Indiana Fever play their home games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which is where the Indiana Pacers play. The Sparks' star rookie Cameron Brink didn't play in the game against the Sun as she's out for the season with an ACL injury.
But there was still plenty of star power on the court as the Sun, who own the second-best record in the league, and the Sparks showed the tremendous amount of growth the WNBA made this season.
"I think for us, obviously we want to keep the main thing the main thing, we got to continue to get better, but at the same time, what an exciting opportunity," Sun head coach Stephanie White said prior to the game. "Our players deserve this, our organization deserves this, the fans and the New England area deserve this. We're excited about this opportunity, but when the ball comes, it's another ball game."
Featured image via Owen Ziliak/The Republic via USA TODAY NETWORK Images