Alyssa Thomas scores first double in WNBA Finals history when Sun sends Aces into Game 4 | NBA News
Alyssa Thomas scored her first double in WNBA Finals history when the Connecticut Sun took the Las Vegas Aces to game 4 in the WNBA Finals.
The historic effort from Thomas meant the Sun avoided elimination with a 105-76 win on Thursday night. Las Vegas leads the best series with a 2-1 scoreline with Game 4 on Sunday in Connecticut.
Thomas finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists. The Sun have now won all four of their knockouts in these playoffs, beating Dallas on the road in the first round and Chicago in games 4 and 5 to close that streak.
“We struggled offensively, and we ended up having a game back at home and my teammates hit the shots,” Thomas said. “None of these would have been possible without them.”
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Check out Game 3 highlights of the WNBA final between the Las Vegas Aces and the Connecticut Sun
The Aces made a quick start, scoring 9 of the first 11 points and forcing Connecticut to call a timeout. That makes the Sun steady and they take over, overtaking the Aces 32-10 the rest of the quarter, including 25 of the last 29.
Connecticut took 14 of their 17 shots this time around, and DeWanna Bonner was ahead.
Bonner struggled in the first two games of the series, scoring a total of five points while missing 16 of his 18 shots. She had seven points in her opening eight minutes on Thursday night and finished with 18.
“She (Bonner) is huge. She’s been here before. She won it. So we rely on her,” Thomas said. “And she struggled mentally, but we had nothing but faith in her and she came out and did her thing tonight.”
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Watch the best plays in Game 3 of the WNBA final between the Las Vegas Aces and the Connecticut Sun
Jonquel Jones leads The Sun with 20 points.
Jones, Bonner and Thomas helped Connecticut dominate the inside as the Sun set a Finals record with 64 points while holding Las Vegas to 26.
“A long time ago, I spoke to Lisa Leslie and she said to win the championship you have to win the drawing,” Jones said. “I see it now and feel it now. I can go back to that and see she was right.”
Connecticut took advantage of that to lead 53-34 with 1:44 remaining in the second half before the Aces closed the period by scoring the final nine points, including Kelsey Plum’s 3-pointer from in the second half.
The Sun regained momentum to start the third quarter, scoring the first five points, and Las Vegas couldn’t get any closer to round six for the rest of the game.
