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The No.6 Chicago Sky is heading to the WNBA Finals after causing the biggest upheaval in the league’s current playoff format.
The Sky defeated the Connecticut Sun No.1 79-69 in Game 4 Thursday night at Wintrust Arena in Chicago to win the Series 3-1. They are the only seeded team outside of the top two, and the first outside of the top three, to reach the final since the format changed in 2016.
Chicago will be making its second trip to the WNBA Finals in 16 years of franchise history and is the third team to reach the final series without a record of regular season wins. They were 16-16. Sky last did so in 2014 and signed former MVP Candace Parker in the offseason to help them pass the early laps and reach the top.
The No.5 Phoenix Mercury can join them with a win over the No.2 Las Vegas Aces in Game 4 that switched at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN. The WNBA Finals begin Friday (8 p.m. ET on ESPN2) though that series also ends Wednesday night.
The sky gets hot at the right time
If fresh eyes were to watch the Sky-Sun semi-final tilt with a blind recap of the regular season for each team, it would be understandable if they changed them by accident. While the Skies ended an eventful season at 16-16, they’ve always been at their best in a playoff series that started with back-to-back knockout games. In the end, Heaven has come together at just the right time.
While they were one or two possessions of each other in the first three games, the Sky took the biggest lead of the series (18) in the third quarter of Game 4 and kept a good distance to two digits on the Sun. Whenever Connecticut caught up with it, the Sky would stop it and pull away again. The Sun also couldn’t help its own cause with a penchant for forgetting the timer for self-inflicted shots and general turnovers.
Copper, Parker, Vandersloot lead Sky
Chicago stayed warm at 3 points in Game 4 and kicked off with two long-range shots from point guard Courtney Vandersloot in the opening two minutes. She had three at the end of the quarter, plus one by Parker, and Sky were leading by six points. He climbed to 13 in half with a scorching 8 for 13 (61.5%) on a 3-point range.
Vandersloot led a balanced attack with 19 points, shooting 5 against 6 with 3 points. She had four rebounds and four assists, a low number for the All-Star point guard that typically indicates a loss for Sky. But those top 3 gave Chicago a good cushion as the Sun struggled. Even three first fouls did not prevent “Sloot”.
Kahleah Copper was on fire again and hooked up early, while Parker did a little bit of everything for his hometown team. Copper scored 18 points, including 13 in the first half, and added six rebounds. Parker had 17 points with nine rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks. Azurá Stevens had another clutch game with 11 points and seven rebounds. Allie Quigley was the only starter to miss double digits with six points in 27 minutes.
Sun can’t keep up despite MVP’s life
The Sun entered the series after winning their last 14 regular season games dating back to July 3. But the series was reminiscent of their Commissioner’s Cup loss to the Seattle Storm after the Olympic break. And outside of Game 4, it was a streak determined by the thinnest margins they couldn’t get over.
“We just couldn’t do the stretches,” Sun head coach Curt Miller said on a Zoom call after the loss. “They scored 25 points in the second half. Think about it. I feel like they scored that in the opening minutes.
“Holding them at a 25-point half you would think we would win, but they had a 50+ point first half.”
Connecticut lost in two overtime in Game 1 despite late chances and saw a similar situation unfold in Game 3. It put them with their backs to the wall and they had to head to an elimination game without the. goalkeeper Briann January, an all-first team – defensive team selection. January was ruled out ahead of the game due to an ankle injury, according to Miller, which occurred during his missed breakaway at the end of Game 3.
Most frustrating for Sun fans is that Game 4 was arguably the best for MVP Jonquel Jones, who was limited to four points in Game 2 and barely hit a double-double in Game 3. Jones came out aggressive early and had a record 11 points. A half. But that was not enough because DeWanna Bonner, Brionna Jones and Alyssa Thomas were not active in attack.
Quiet night for sun breach
Jones finished with a record 25 points on a 10 for 18 shot and was chased by Parker after the buzzer for a hug and words. She had 2 attempts out of 4 to 3 points, including one to start the third quarter which, along with that of Natisha Hiedeman, began to put the Sun in contention. Instead, Parker, Copper, and Vandersloot combined for 11 straight points to shut it down.
Hiedeman scored 16 points in 25 minutes on the bench and made 5 of 6 3-point attempts, a big boost to the Sun even shooting into the box at 8 for 17 (47.1%) as a team behind the arc. Jasmine Thomas scored 11, but was 3-for-14 from the floor. Bonner scored four points on just 1 in 6 attempts and Brionna Jones, named the league’s most improved player, had six points.
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