By DOUG FEINBERG – AP Basketball Writer
The Connecticut Sun are finally heading home after spending nearly two weeks on the road.
The Sun will host the Chicago Sky for the next two games of their WNBA playoff semifinal series, which is tied 1-1. Game 3 is Sunday and Game 4 is Tuesday.
Connecticut went to Dallas in the first round and beat the Wings in the deciding Game 3 to advance to the semifinals. Instead of going home, the Sun flew to Chicago to prepare for the series with the Sky. Connecticut won Game 1 before losing 85-77 in Game 2 on Wednesday.
Now the team have had the chance to sleep in their own bed and will play in front of their home fans on Sunday.
“It’s a huge game, an opportunity for us.” Sun head coach Curt Miller said. “We understand what Match 3 looks like in our league.”
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For the Sun to succeed, they will need to find a way to slow down Candace Parker, who has been dominant on both ends of the court in the first two games of the series – averaging 20.5 points, 11 rebounds, 4.5 blocks . and 2.5 interceptions.
“She’s had so many different great games. Even when she has less stats, she still does so many good things on the court, like being a great leader,” Chicago’s Emma Meesseman said of Parker. “I don’t think there’s enough words. I think it’s up to you to find them.
“To simply describe what she’s done on the pitch, she’s everywhere. Defense, attack. Off the court, she was very vocal. I’m glad to be with her on this show because going against her isn’t fun, I think.
Here are some other scenarios for Game 3:
Brionna Jones was honored as the league’s sixth player of the year on Thursday. She received 53 of 56 votes from a national media panel. Chicago forward Azura Stevens got two votes and Washington’s Myisha Hines-Allen the other. Jones came off the bench in 29 of the Sun’s 36 games and averaged 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals.
Parker knows how difficult it is to win a championship – she secured her first title in 2016 with Los Angeles and won her second with Chicago last season.
“It took me nine years to get to the final,” she said. “You have an opportunity. This team has an opportunity so we can’t not seize the opportunity. If we don’t, let’s not because they’re just so much better than us. So let’s go out and play some basketball. And I think that’s the way we lead is we just have to have the right mindset and we have to be the ones setting the tone.
The 36-year-old forward is trying to lead Sky to a repeat – something that hasn’t been done in 20 years. She scoffed at the idea that she plays better now than when she was younger.
“I don’t think so,” Parker said after the Game 2 win. “I think the younger CP in the playoffs was more dominant. But I just think about mentally understanding moments and things that I didn’t understand when I was fighting to get to the Finals or to win the playoffs.
AP freelance writer Gavin Good contributed to this report.
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