Fire 71, Sun 61: Better effort, but still nothing to show

You could probably sum up the 2026 Connecticut Sun in one possession: Trailing 60-57 with under three minutes left Wednesday, Aneesah Morrow could not get a runner to go, but grabbed her own rebound (one of 8 offensive rebounds on the night). When she missed from short range a second time, Olivia Nelson-Ododa snagged the rebound and found a wide open Diamond Miller, who looked to tie the game, but missed from three. But Saniya Rivers swooped in, and kicked to Morrow, who was also wide open from behind the arc, however you know how it ended.

The rest was downhill for the Sun, who finished (mercifully) its dreadful offensive road trip by shooting 1-for-21 from behind the arc. They at least battled all the way through and forced 19 turnovers, albeit against an expansion team, but it’s brutal right now on the offensive end, and although they’re been on the road for five games, they have played a favorable schedule and still sit at the bottom of the league.

But even with everything going on, the Sun still had a 5-point lead to start the fourth quarter, and Rachid Meziane put a somewhat baffling lineup on the floor, including Gianna Kneepkens (who hadn’t played to that point), Ashlon Jackson, and Reagan Beers, and then stuck with them, even when things started to spiral out of control a bit. 

As I pointed out, it’s increasingly looking like - with a lame duck coach and a lame duck team - that it’s not really important to the franchise how many games they lose next season, especially with Juju Watkins and Hannah Hidalgo available. 

Leila Lacan will return Saturday, and that will help a little, with Hailey Van Lith (who led the charge when the Sun took the lead in the second half) somewhat surprisingly being waived to make room. But, again, she likely doesn’t fit into future plans 

What else did we learn a 71-61 loss to Portland that at least made us stay up until the end?:

1. Figure out a rotation - I know some people need minutes limited (like Nelson-Ododa), but it seems hard for people like Saniya Rivers to get going when she’s constantly in and out of the game and everyone is (basically) getting even minutes. Having a 12-person rotation (even without Lacan and Brittany Griner) is ridiculous in a close game, especially after a couple of blowouts that let the Sun get everyone minutes when they needed to. But winning may not be the top priority right now, unfortunately. 

2. Hustle stats were good - Even a dreadful shooting team like the Sun can’t be that poor forever. Can they? Regardless, the Sun had 14 offensive rebounds (41.2%) and - again - forced 19 turnovers, and they’ll need those going forward. What was even more frustrating about going 1-for-21 is how wide open many of those looks are. They also just cut their leading outside shooter and no one on the roster is in double digits in three-pointers made through 9 games, which is ridiculous.

3. Free throws? -  After again struggling at the free throw line (12-for-22), the Sun’s 67.2% at the foul line is 6% behind everyone else in the WNBA, something Connecticut obviously can’t afford with the way it’s offense is going. Interestingly, Charlisse Leger-Walker shot only 64.1% at the line for UCLA last winter, but was over 80% in her last two seasons at Washington State, so maybe it’s contagious.

Player of the game:  Aneesah Morrow - Nowhere else to go again in this category, Morrow now has more total rebounds than anyone in the WNBA and is fourth in average (9.7), a number that would be much higher if it weren’t for his disciplinary issues last week.

Inside the numbers : +4 -  Hailey Van Lith’s +/- number, which led the Sun. Again, it seems like Van Lith might have known she was a short-term replacement until Lacan returned, but to waive her over someone like Gianna Kneepkens seems interesting.

Under the radar: Aaliyah Edwards left the game with a facial injury after just five minutes, which maybe got Nelson-Ododa more minutes, but it seems like the Sun are generally better with Nelson-Ododa on the floor, even if she does foul plenty. Diamond Miller played 20 minutes and was again ineffective, not pulling in a single rebound (although Morrow was grabbing them all).

Going forward, Los Angeles has the worst defense in the WNBA, so maybe there’s some reason to hope Saturday, especially because it doesn’t look like Kelsey Plum will play. But we’ve had hopes for better before only to see a dud at home, so we’ll see.

Quotable:  “We can be proud of our effort and our energy, but we still have to build our confidence in our shot. We created a lot of good looks, but we didn’t hit many of it. To stay connected to the game shooting 1-for-21 and have a chance to win it was good. But we have to convert our opportunities" - Rachid Meziane

Next up: Saturday vs. Los Angeles (Hartford), 6 p.m.