In the fast-paced world of WNBA playoffs, it’s all about who steps up when it counts. And for the Connecticut Sun, that player was Ty Harris. After two tough losses to the Minnesota Lynx, Harris emerged as a critical factor in helping her team stave off elimination and push the series to a deciding Game 5. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, but the Sun’s ability to rally behind key players like Harris and Alyssa Thomas highlights why they’re still a force to be reckoned with.
Let’s take a step back to see how things got so tense. In their previous two matchups against the Lynx, Connecticut struggled. Ty Harris, a core piece of the Sun’s offense, was barely making an impact. Across those two games, she played just 13 minutes combined and didn’t score a single point. To make matters worse, Harris was still finding her rhythm after returning from an ankle injury she suffered in the first round of the playoffs. That injury caused her to miss three games—games that Connecticut managed to win without her. But when she returned for Game 2 against Minnesota, she came off the bench with limited minutes, still not quite herself.
By the time Game 4 rolled around, the Sun were down 2-1 in the series and facing elimination. The stakes couldn’t have been higher. It was do or die for Connecticut, and they needed their key players to step up in a big way. Head coach Stephanie White recognized this and made a decisive move: she put Harris back in the starting lineup, replacing Marina Mabrey. It wasn’t just a tactical switch; it was a call for Harris to return to form.
“We need her to be out there,” White emphasized before the game. “We need her to take shots for us. We need her to be a shot maker for us. We need her to be a solid defender for us. So she’s got to be in the rotation.”
And Harris didn’t just respond—she exploded onto the scene. The 5’10” guard lit up the scoreboard with 20 points, with 13 of those coming in a crucial second half. What really stood out was her sharpshooting from beyond the arc. Harris went 4-for-5 from three-point range, making up half of Connecticut’s eight total three-pointers in the game. Her shooting gave the Sun the edge they desperately needed.
“She gives us another floor spacer, which opens things up for AT (Alyssa Thomas) to attack, opens things up for Breezy when she’s on the floor, on the block,” White explained, pointing out the ripple effect Harris had on the entire offense. “She certainly makes DB (DeWanna Bonner) and Marina’s life a lot easier as well.”
White couldn’t have been more right. Harris’s presence on the floor was a game-changer, and her ability to knock down shots created opportunities for her teammates to succeed. With Harris in rhythm, Connecticut looked like a different team, and they managed to turn what was a sluggish, out-of-sync Game 3 into a much-needed 92-82 victory.
Of course, it wasn’t just Harris who made the difference. The Sun’s win was a collective effort. At halftime, they were trailing by seven points, but that didn’t stop them from coming out firing in the third quarter. They outscored the Lynx 25-13 in that period alone, flipping the momentum and seizing control of the game. Alyssa Thomas, who had a rough first half shooting just 2-of-10, came alive in the second half. She scored 14 of her 18 points after halftime, finishing the game shooting 8-of-17.
Thomas’s bounce-back performance was crucial, but she wasn’t alone in stepping up. DeWanna Bonner had one of her best games of the postseason, scoring 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting. DiJonai Carrington added 15 points, going 6-for-10 from the field, while Marina Mabrey contributed 10 points off the bench. It was a true team effort, and it couldn’t have come at a more important time.
The energy inside Mohegan Sun Arena was electric after the win, with fans roaring in support as the Sun forced the series to Game 5. After the game, Harris took a moment to address the crowd, delivering a simple but powerful message: “We forced it to Game 5, and we’re going to do it there.”
Now, the series heads back to Minneapolis for a decisive Game 5. It’s winner-takes-all, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. The winner of this game will earn a spot in the WNBA Finals, where they’ll face off against the New York Liberty. The Finals are set to tip off at the Barclays Center on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, after the Liberty secured their spot by defeating the Las Vegas Aces 76-62 in Game 4 of their own series.
Playing an elimination game at Target Center is no easy feat. The Lynx have some of the most passionate fans in the league, and the atmosphere will be intense. Bonner knows this well and spoke about the challenge of playing in front of a crowd hungry for another championship.
“They’re great fans,” Bonner said of the Lynx faithful. “They’re championship fans. They’ve won multiple championships, so they’re hungry for another one. It’s going to be crazy, but I think we’ve been there — thank goodness for the first two games — so we know what it kind of feels like, and we’ll be prepared to handle that.”
The Sun’s resilience has been one of the most exciting aspects of this series. From Harris’s comeback performance to the team’s ability to rally together in the face of adversity, Connecticut has shown they’re not ready to go down without a fight. They’ve already clawed their way out of one elimination game, and they’ll be looking to do it again in Game 5.
Here are a few key factors to watch for in the deciding game:
- Ty Harris’s Hot Hand: Can she carry her Game 4 momentum into Game 5? If Harris continues to shoot the way she did, the Sun will have a strong chance of advancing.
- Alyssa Thomas’s Versatility: Thomas is the engine that powers Connecticut. Her ability to impact the game on both ends of the floor will be crucial.
- Home-Court Advantage: The Lynx will have the crowd on their side, and the Sun will need to stay composed in a hostile environment.
- Team Depth: Both teams have relied on contributions from up and down their rosters. Which bench will step up in this critical moment?
This series has been full of twists and turns, and the stage is now set for an epic conclusion. Can the Sun overcome the odds and punch their ticket to the Finals? With Harris back in form, and a collective team effort behind her, they’re more than capable of pulling it off. Game 5 promises to be a thrilling showdown, and WNBA fans won’t want to miss it.
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