BOSTON — In the first-ever WNBA game played at the Boston Celtics’ iconic TD Garden, the Connecticut Sun put on an impressive show for the new market with a 69-61 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday.
DiJonai Carrington powered Connecticut to victory in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 19,100 fans, finishing with 19 points shooting 8-for-17 from the field while adding four rebounds and a steal. Sun superstar Alyssa Thomas also shined on the high-pressure stage, coming just shy of her third triple-double of the season with nine points, a season-high 16 rebounds and eight assists.
“Nai is a front runner for Most Improved Player, and I think Nai is a candidate for a first team, all-defensive team,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “She’s found the balance throughout the course of the season of when to get hers on offense, while understanding how much we need her on the defensive end of the floor. She’s also really good rebounder for us from the perimeter position, so she’s been critical, but I think her growth has been a natural progression and just a result of her hard work. She earned the opportunity, and she’s taken it and run with it.”
The Sun experimented with their starting lineup against the Sparks for the second straight game, brining DeWanna Bonner off the bench with Carrington, Tyasha Harris and Marina Mabrey as the first-string backcourt. Prior to Tuesday, Bonner had started in 221 consecutive WNBA regular-season appearances dating back to 2016, including every game she has ever played with the Connecticut Sun since she was traded to the franchise in 2020.
“DB volunteered to come off the bench. She understands that it’s about women, and she also understands that there’s emotion involved when it comes to starting or not starting,” White said. “She came and talked to us and was like ‘Look, I don’t mind coming off the bench. I just want to win. I want to figure out what our best rotation is, and I’ll be ready to go no matter what.’ That’s leadership. That’s sacrifice. That’s putting the team above everything else.”
The new lineup still struggled to get started, allowing a 5-0 run to the Sparks over the opening minutes of the first quarter. But the guards started hot from 3-point range to buoy the Connecticut offense: Carrington kicked off the team’s scoring with a 3-pointer in the first two minutes of the game, and Harris drained her first outside shot to give the Sun their first lead midway through the first quarter. The duo combined for 15 of Connecticut’s 17 points in the first, and their momentum continued into the second quarter despite entering it on a three-point deficit.
Carrington led the team with 12 points at halftime, but Brionna Jones began to hit her stride in the second quarter to become the second Sun player in double figures. Jones scored eight of her 10 first-half points in the second, and Harris nailed a buzzer-beater to end the half and get to 11 points.
TY HARRIS ON THE BUZZER FOR THREE‼️#BringTheHeat pic.twitter.com/hgJRunTWVU
— Connecticut Sun (@ConnecticutSun) August 20, 2024
Thomas was scoreless for the entire first half, but “The Engine” had her usual impact down the stat sheet with a team-high six rebounds and six assists. She quickly found her offensive rhythm in the third quarter though with six points in the first seven minutes, and she also grabbed two steals. Turnovers were an Achilles heel for the Sparks, who gave up 20 points to the Sun on 22 lost possessions while scoring just six on 11 Sun turnovers.
Connecticut’s 3-point shooting cooled off after halftime, and the team finished making just 31.3% from outside led by Harris going 3-for-6. The offense stagnated early in the fourth quarter, which allowed the Sparks to cut the Sun’s lead to a single possession after just two minutes. Both teams went two more minutes without a field goal before Sparks rookie Rickea Jackson ended the drought with an and-1 layup over Carrington to tie the game at 53 points.
It was also Carrington who scored the Sun’s first points of the fourth quarter on a transition layup with five minutes left to play, but the Sparks answered with a 7-0 run that gave the visiting squad a four-point lead.
The volume steadily increased in the sold-out arena as Thomas drew an and-1 on a fastbreak to put Connecticut back ahead with three minutes to play, and it became deafening when Carrington turned a steal from Harris into another transition bucket seconds later. Mabrey came in clutch with a pull-up jumper — just her second made field goal of the game — to make it a two-score game, and Thomas assisted Jones for the layup that cushioned the lead.
“It’s a competitive group, and they feed off of one another,” White said. “Breezy had a hustle play. She had a charge drawn, and those couple of things gave us a little bit of bounce, gave us a little bit of lift. We got some some offense from our defense, which is what we needed, because we were struggling again on the offensive end of the floor. Creating offense from our defense has always been one of the strengths for us, and everybody bought into doing the little things that it was going to take. ”
Sparks head coach Curt Miller, who previously coached the Sun from 2016-22, was ejected from the game with just over a minute remaining after he stormed onto the court appearing to argue with the officials.
