Alyssa Thomas scored the first triple-double in WNBA Finals history as the Connecticut Sun take the Las Vegas Aces to Game 4 in the WNBA Finals.
The historic effort from Thomas mean the Sun avoided elimination with a 105-76 victory on Thursday night. Las Vegas leads the best-of-five series 2-1 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 elimination games in these playoffs, beating Dallas on the road in the first round and Chicago in Games 4 and 5 to close out that series.
“We’ve been struggling offensively, and we finally got a game back at home and my team-mates were hitting shots,” Thomas said. “None of this would have been possible without them.”
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Take a look at the highlights of Game 3 of the WNBA Finals between the Las Vegas Aces and the Connecticut Sun
The Aces got off to a fast start, scoring nine of the first 11 points and forcing Connecticut to call a timeout. That settled the Sun down and they took over, outscoring the Aces 32-10 the rest of the quarter, including 25 of the final 29 points.
Connecticut made 14 of their 17 shots during the period and DeWanna Bonner stepped up.
Bonner had struggled in the first two games of the series, scoring five points total while missing 16 of her 18 shots. She had seven points in the opening eight minutes on Thursday night and finished with 18.
“She (Bonner) was huge. She’s been here before. She’s won it. So, we lean on her,” Thomas said. “And she’s been struggling offensively, but we had nothing but faith in her and she came out and did her thing tonight.”
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Check out the best plays from Game 3 of the WNBA Finals between Las Vegas Aces and Connecticut Sun
Jonquel Jones led the Sun with 20 points.
Jones, Bonner and Thomas helped Connecticut dominate inside as the Sun set a Finals record with 64 points in the paint while holding Las Vegas to 26.
“A long time ago, I talked to Lisa Leslie and she said to win a championship you have to win the paint,” Jones said. “I see it now and feel it now. I can go back to that and see she was right.”
Connecticut used that advantage to lead 53-34 with 1:44 left in the second quarter before the Aces closed the period by scoring the final nine points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Kelsey Plum from just inside half-court.
The Sun seized momentum back to start the third quarter, scoring the first five points and Las Vegas couldn’t get closer than within six for the rest of the game.
