It is a time-honored basketball cliche for good cause:
Protection wins championships.
The Connecticut Solar had one of the best protection within the WNBA this season and it confirmed Sunday after they pissed off a top-three offense — Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever — all through their playoff opener. As soon as the Solar discovered their offensive rhythm this sport turned a blowout.
The Solar received 93-69 To take a 1-0 sequence lead within the best-of-three. Connecticut can shut the sequence out and maintain Indiana from having one other house sport with a win on Wednesday.
Caitlin Clark, welcome to playoff basketball — she had a bruise underneath her eye after being poked there within the first quarter, however added that is not why her shot was off. And it was off. Clark began 0-of-8 from 3, not hitting her first from past the arc till halfway via the third quarter, and she or he completed with 11 factors on 4-of-17 taking pictures, together with 2-of-13 from 3.
“I received some actually beauty. I felt I had three fairly wide-open 3s within the first half that such as you often make,” Clark mentioned postgame. “In order that’s robust, however I felt like I battled and tried my finest.”
Credit score the Solar’s DeWanna Bonner and teammates for taking away Clark’s stream — and it wasn’t simply Clark. The whole Fever group struggled to discover a rhythm towards the Solar, taking pictures 6-of-28 (21.4%) from 3 for the sport.
Taking a group out of their stream and making the sport slightly ugly is what good defenses do. It is what Connecticut did Sunday.
Two different issues received going for the Suns. One was their All-NBA two-way pressure Alyssa Thomas recording her fourth profession triple-double with 12 factors, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.
The opposite factor that modified the sport got here when Tyasha Harris needed to depart the sport within the first quarter after rolling her ankle on a closeout. That put extra strain on reserve Marina Maybrey to step up — and did she ever, scoring 27, essentially the most factors ever off the bench in a WNBA playoff sport.
The sport was shut early on. The Solar led after the primary quarter 23-20 largely due to the six offensive boards they grabbed, giving them loads of second-chance factors. Effectively, that and Bonner, who scored 10 within the first quarter together with a few 3s.
The sport began to show when the Solar went on a 9-0 run late within the first half and by the half, had stretched their lead out to eight, 46-38. Connecticut turned the tables on the Fever by operating each probability they received, which not solely received buckets however led to fouls.
Within the third, Clark lastly began to discover a rhythm, however so did Connectict’s Mabrey — a mid-season commerce acquisition from Chicago — who had 11 factors within the quarter. The Solar pushed the lead out to fifteen by the top of the third. Then got here the fourth and the Fever regarded like what they had been, the much less skilled group in large moments. The Solar put their foot down on the fuel and this turned a blowout.
Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 21 factors, whereas Aliyah Boston confirmed off her improved talent on the quick roll and completed with 17 factors and 11 rebounds.
Connecticut’s protection shall be there Wednesday for Recreation 2, if the Fever cannot discover a approach to adapt and modify, their season shall be over.
In different motion on the primary day of the WNBA playoffs:
New York 83, Atlanta 69: Prime seed New York began the sport 6-of-6 from the ground, raced out to a primary quarter 15-point lead and by no means regarded again towards an overmatched Atlanta squad of their first playoff sport within the sequence.
Brianna Stewart had her traditional monster sport with 20 factors and 10 rebounds, nevertheless it was rookie Leonie Fiebich who led New York with 21 factors.
Atlanta’s main scorer this season Rhyne Howard began the sport 1-of-9 from the ground, struggling towards the Liberty protection, however nonetheless completed with a team-high 14 factors. New York can shut out the sequence at house in Recreation 2.
