Alyssa Thomas has kept the Connecticut Sun competitive with her all-around play. She has found ways to increase her productivity with Connecticut center Brionna Jones sidelined for the remainder of the season because of a ruptured Achilles’ tendon.
Thomas now owns the WNBA record for triple-doubles after posting her fourth in a regular season game on Sunday. That broke a tie with Sabrina Ionescu and Candace Parker on the all-time leaderboard. Thomas added a fifth one Tuesday night in an 89-81 loss to New York. She also has two in the playoffs.
“I want to win,” said Thomas after the win over Chicago on Sunday. “We’re still trying to bring a championship here. We just continue to grind it out each and every day. My name might be on (the record) but a lot of credit goes to my teammates. So far this year, I feel like it’s been the easiest for me with the way they’re knocking down shots.”
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The Sun lost former MVP Jonquel Jones in a trade to New York and Jasmine Thomas in a deal with Los Angeles in the offseason. Despite those departures, Connecticut has the second best record in the league a year after their finals appearance.
Alyssa Thomas, who was the AP player of the week, is a major reason why. She leads the WNBA in rebounds and is second in assists and minutes played, yet wasn’t named a starter for the All-Star Game.
“She’s legit one of the best players in the world,” teammate DeWanna Bonner said. “And I think everybody’s starting to recognize it and I think it’s great timing. She’s waited her turn and now she’s getting that recognition. It’s coming little by little and it’s just an honor to play with her, but she’s literally one of the best players I’ve played with hands down.”
Las Vegas remained the atop the AP WNBA Poll for the seventh straight week. The Aces were followed by Connecticut and New York again. The three teams will all face each other this week. Washington was fourth with Los Angeles fifth. Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and Indiana were next. Minnesota, Seattle and Phoenix rounded out the poll.
The Washington Mystics announced that forward Shakira Austin will be out for at least the next three weeks and be reevaluated at that time to better determine her return to play timeline. Austin was selected with the third pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft and is currently averaging 11.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
The league announced the 10 All-Star starters for the game that will be played in Las Vegas on July 15. The WNBA will reveal the 12 reserves who will be chosen by the league’s coaches on Saturday. A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart were chosen as captains for the second consecutive season. They will have their draft on July 8 to choose the two teams.
Brittney Griner, who was chosen as an All-Star for the ninth time, returned from a hip injury last week that sidelined her for three games. She will be playing for a new coach as the Phoenix Mercury fired Vanessa Nygaard on Sunday. The team promoted assistant Nikki Blue to be the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. The Mercury have three home games this week playing Dallas, Indiana and Minnesota.
New York at Las Vegas, Thursday. The first meeting between the two teams that experts predict will meet in the WNBA Finals. Las Vegas has lost just one game this season while New York has dropped three contests.
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