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MA VoepelESPN.com
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Leaning against the wall (again) during the WNBA knockout, Connecticut Sun found another device. Led by the player they called “Machine”, Alyssa Thomas.
She got her first double in WNBA Finals history on Thursday when the Sun beat Las Vegas Aces 105-76 in Game 3 of the best series after losing the first two games on the popular Strip. If anyone thought the Sun would roll over to sweep the Aces… no one watching the WNBA thinks so. It is not the personality of the Sun.
They lost a game 1 on Sunday and a game 2 not close on Tuesday at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. But back home at Mohegan Sun Arena in front of their fans, The Sun have summoned the dojo they need to force match 4, which will take place this Sunday in Connecticut (4 p.m. ET, ESPN).
“If you can encapsulate Connecticut, it’s physical and very resilient,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said of the Sun. “They have a fight-type mentality, and we don’t fit that tonight, in any category. They just kicked us in the ass any way they could.”
Regarding Thomas, who finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists, Hammon said, “She’s a monster. I attended a UFC fight the night before; I wouldn’t want to go in. cage with her. She’s just tough.” Tough, tough, tough. And then a player. “
Six-foot-2 Thomas, 30, was number four in the 2014 WNBA draft in Maryland, which she led to the women’s fourth division final in her senior year.
Thomas is a difficult player – if not incomparable to anyone else in the WNBA. Her long-standing shoulder injury (a torn lip in both of which has not been repaired surgically) kept her from making an actual jump, but that didn’t matter. Thomas has found her own ways to get the ball into the box, and she’s so cunning and powerful, it’s hard to stop her.
Thomas is essentially a striker, with her ability to handle the ball and create chances for teammates. And recovery? As Hammon said, there’s nothing about Thomas that makes you think you’re going to outshine or outdo her.
“What’s remarkable is that it’s every day. She doesn’t know how else to play,” Sun coach Curt Miller said of Thomas’s drive. “She’s probably the toughest player I’ve ever coached, but she’s the most consistent player I’ve ever had.”
Several points were inconsistent for The Sun in the first two games of the Finals, leaving them in a win or lose position. But they had to face it in the first round when they had to go to Dallas to close the best three-game series and get to the semi-finals and when they beat the defending champions Chicago twice on Sky’s homecourt, including in Game 5 decisive.
Thursday, the Aces started 9-2, but that’s the extent of their control over this game. As if a switch were flipped, the Sun’s energy levels spiked and they led 34-19 after the first quarter. At the end of the game, all Sun’s starters scored with doubles, led by 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones with 20 points.
DeWanna Bonnerafter going 2/18 off the field in the first two games of the Finals, won 8 of 15 on Thursday with 18 points, along with helping retain the Aces guard Chelsea Gray to 11 points.
But the star of the night was Thomas, whose double was her third this season, also a WNBA record. There have been 19 triples in WNBA history – 3 in the knockout stages, the rest by Chicago Courtney Vandersloot and Sheryl Swoopes of Houston – but they are becoming much less rare than they used to be. Eight out of 19 have come this season, and two were last season.
That reflects more positional play, which the WNBA is seeing just as the NBA has done. In Thomas’ case, it’s about her ability to be able to play both a true position but also as someone who can float around and just make things happen for herself or her teammates. that.
And on a night when the season of the Sun might have ended, Thomas led the way and was ready to move on.
“For me, I approach the game like I approach any other game,” says Thomas. “I think we just wanted it. We struggled in attack. We haven’t really hit the shots and tonight we are ready.”
