Fever 85, Sun 77: Close again and lots of good things, but another loss

For all the hype about the change of venue, it resulted in a pretty bizarre game Tuesday for the Sun, one that it seemed like they were in from start to finish. And the score seemed to indicate that as well.

But, after an opening flurry for both teams, the atmosphere didn’t seem to match, and the broadcast certainly didn’t, seemingly treating it as if it were a 20-point game and the Fever's triumph was inevitable. Maybe they were right, Indiana eventually put the game away 85-77 without too much fanfare in the final minutes.

Was it a case of the Fever just coasting a little with New York coming up Wednesday night in their final game before the All-Star break? Did they take the Sun lightly? I don’t think so, I think that’s a little disrespectful to the improvement Connecticut has made in its last few games, and the final boxscore shows if the Sun could have only hit a few shots, they would have won this game. Although maybe I was watching a different game than everyone else.

As I said after Sunday’s loss to Los Angeles, losing sucks, and I don’t think you can count this as a moral victory, not at home (ish), and when the game was as close as it was until the very end. But there is more hope these days if you ignore the hideous 3-19 record, this was the fourth straight game Connecticut covered the point spread (+15.5 in this one), which does mean they are overachieving compared to what people think they will do.

With nine days off and the probable return of Marina Mabrey, it gives Rachid Meziane a chance to reset and make a case that he’s the person that can eventually take this team back to the playoffs and beyond. Leila Lacan has been an immediate help, and it stands to reason the other rookies will keep improving as the season progresses. I still think Meziane has left a lot to be desired tactically this season (for instance, Tuesday he came out blitzing Caitlin Clark, which led her to just find people for easy layups on the first three possessions of the game, which made no sense). And the Sun have not executed consistently in the fourth quarter or down the stretch of games.

But the players do seem to like him and are playing hard and we’ll see what that means the rest of the way. 

What else did we learn Tuesday in a game that saw no technical fouls, but did see a potentially ugly incident with a fan (who was subsequently ejected) confronting Saniya Rivers (hopefully we’ll get more information on what exactly happened)?:

 

1. The boxscore is also weird and frustrating  - At one point, Caitlin Clark was 0-for-4 and had five turnovers, while Aliyah Boston was also struggling mightily, yet the Sun couldn’t quite get over the hump and take command of the game. Boston finished with only 11 points and six rebounds, but Kelsey Mitchell was 8-for-10 from INSIDE the arc to lead everyone with 20 points. If and when Indiana gets going, especially in transition, they will be tough to stop with Clark, Boston, Mitchell, Lexie Hull as a fourth option, and Sophoe Cunningham (who had 11 points) coming off the bench. But the Sun couldn’t take advantage of a Fever off night, shooting just 36.1% from the field and 5-for-25 from behind the arc (although they did have just 8 turnovers).

2. The rest of the season could be fun - More on Leila Lacan below, but we did see Lacan, Rivers, and Aneesah Morrow on the floor together, and it certainly wasn’t terrible. There are some issues, none of them is a true point guard, so if you add one to that lineup (or Marina Mabrey, even), that means Morrow is the 4, and that has been tough for her, although she got 12 more rebounds in this game. Olivia Nelson-Ododa only got 20 minutes, but the future lineup with those four and a true point guard (Bria Hartley has been excellent in the role she’s in, but I’m talking a couple of years down the road) could be a dangerous squad once they get used to the WNBA. Even for the near future, they are exciting, even if the wins aren’t there yet.

3. Too many jump shots, especially Tina Charles -  Charles gave her all and has played a ton of basketball lately, scoring 21 and 11 in 34 more minutes. Indiana got to the free throw line 29 times, while the Sun shot just 16 (to be fair, 9 of them were from Charles), but the Sun just seemed to settle for jump shots (Morrow did it as well) instead of getting to the rim or kicking it back out for a more efficient three-pointer. After a 28-point first quarter, Connecticut scored just 49 points the rest of the way.

Player of the game:  Leila Lacan - She is still raw and had a couple of bad passes, but you can’t argue with the stat line: 19 points (on 8-for-13 shooting) and 3 steals in 24 minutes, not to mention her length giving opponents’ trouble again. Again, Rivers and Lacan are very similar, which is a nightmare for opposing guards, but with neither being a true point, it’s going to be up to Meziane to figure out how to make that work best.

Inside the numbers : 5 -  Number of offensive rebounds for Indiana, another area where Connecticut was tremendous Tuesday night, but just couldn’t do enough to get the victory. 

Under the radar: It was Nelson-Ododa who gave way for Morrow down the stretch on Tuesday, and when Mabrey returns next week, that will make the decisions even tougher on whom to play. It could be a small lineup with Charles at the 5 (as it was tonight), which would also leave out Jacy Sheldon (who had a tough night Tuesday) along with Nelson-Ododa. But Nelson-Ododa is so valuable defensively (and was tonight, even staying with Clark a couple of times), that it’s going to be tough.

Quotable:  "I would love for that to be our identity that our defense is what's going to generate offense for us. We would love to get easy baskets and not have to set up on every possession. I think the last couple of games, we've been able to see growth. That was my message to the team, we lost this game, but we lost it differently . So we need to get our bodies right in the All-Star break, take a rest, and continue to see the same team, but with a winning effort." - Tina Charles

Next up: Thursday, July 24 vs. Los Angeles, 7 p.m. EDT