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Alyssa Thomas had the first triple-double in WNBA Finals history, and the Connecticut Sun staved off elimination by beating the Las Vegas Aces 105-76 in Game 3 on Thursday night.
Thomas had 16 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists for the Sun, who have now won all four of their elimination games in these playoffs, topping Dallas on the road in the first round and beating Chicago in Games 4 and 5 to close out that series.
Game 4 of this best-of-five series is Sunday in Connecticut.
“We’ve been struggling offensively and we finally got a game back at home and my teammates were hitting shots,” Thomas said. “None of this would have been possible without them.”
WATCH | Sun’s Thomas makes WNBA history in Game 3 win:
Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas became the first WNBA player to record a triple-double in the WNBA Finals Thursday in game three.
Las Vegas 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 its 17 shots in the period and DeWanna Bonner was a big reason why.
She 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 8 minutes on Thursday night and finished with 18.
“She 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.”
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.
WATCH | Jones, Thomas lead Sun past Aces in Game 3:
Connecticut Sun staved off elimination defeating the Las Vegas Aces 105-76 in game 3 of WNBA finals.
“That’s a team that is very resilient. If you could encapsulate Connecticut it’s physical and very resilient,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “They are physical and resilient and we didn’t match that tonight in any category.”
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. Las Vegas couldn’t get closer than six the rest of the game.
Jackie Young scored 22 points and A’ja Wilson added 19 for the Aces.
The victory thwarted Las Vegas’ first attempt at winning the franchise’s inaugural WNBA championship. The team had been in the Finals twice before and got swept in 2008 and 2020.
Thomas now has three triple-doubles in her career — both this season. This was the third in WNBA playoff history. Chicago’s Courtney Vandersloot and Houston’s Sheryl Swoopes had the others.
Former Aces president and coach Bill Laimbeer sat courtside. He took over the franchise when it moved to Las Vegas in 2018 before retiring at the end of last season. Laimbeer was instrumental in assembling the championship roster by drafting Wilson first in 2018 and getting Gray to come to the team last season as a free agent
WATCH | Wilson lifts Aces to victory in Game 2:
A’ja Wilson posted a game-high 26 points to go with 10 rebounds in Las Vegas’ win over the Connecticut Sun in Game 2 of the best-of-five series.
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