Sky 85, Sun 80: If the Sun can't win a game like this....

When you’re at the bottom of the standings, you’re looking for anything that will give you hope and/or confidence, and the Connecticut Sun found it in the first quarter Friday night in Chicago, racing to a double-digit lead and seemingly with a chance to bury the equally hapless Sky before halftime.

That, of course, didn’t happen, as offensively challenged Chicago scored 32 points in the second quarter to get back into the game by halftime. After that, the Sun’s equally challenged offense was the more challenged of the two and veterans Skylar Diggins and Natasha Cloud made enough plays down the stretch to break Chicago’s five-game losing streak.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before (please don’t stop reading, actually), but it’s another game the Sun could have won, and another one they didn’t. In the big picture, it’s not going to matter, as we’ve said a few times, the more ping pong balls they can get to draft JuJu Watkins, the better.

But, especially knowing the team will be gone soon, it still hurts, and there are still things that we hope would see improvement. Maybe it will all come together in a couple years in Houston and we can all have a laugh about it while the Com…, (can’t say it, sorry) make a playoff run.

However, it’s starting to have the look of a long summer coming. 

What else did we learn from an 85-80 loss to Chicago that might sting for at least 24 hours?:

 

1. Leila Lacan has struggled  - After her first couple of minutes against Los Angeles, it’s been tough, but this was definitely the worst of the bunch, scoring just 3 points in 34 minutes on 1-for-8 shooting. But what might have been worse was her having just 2 assists against 3 turnovers and only a single steal. She was OK defensively, but was largely outplayed by Jacy Sheldon and was a non-factor, something the Sun cannot afford if they’re going to win any games. 

2. More questionable rotations - We don’t know why Aneesah Morrow (17 rebounds) didn’t play down the stretch in favor of Nell Angloma, but even before that, you had an almost all rookie lineup late in the third quarter which put the Sun behind, and they dressed both developmental players (Ashlon Jackson and Hailey Van Lith) to play a total of 7 minutes. So Rachid Meziane got 12 players in the game, and although the starters had some decent minutes, there were several times where things looked disjointed.

3. Someone make a shot -  Saniya Rivers, of all people, finally hit a three-pointer in the final minute to cut Chicago’s lead to 80-79, but it was Connecticut’s only made three-pointer of the second half, as they finished a woeful 4-for-18 again. Opponents don’t go over any Sun screens ever, and it is just tough to run an offense that way, with the Sun depending on their 14 offensive rebounds to try to make things work. But making any shots should open things up for Brittany Griner and maybe Lacan to do more damage.

Player of the game:  Brittany Griner - We would have liked to see more of her in the fourth quarter, but this might have been Griner’s best game with the Sun, finishing with 16 points (on 6-for-8 shooting), 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. She was a huge factor on the defensive end in the first quarter as well.

Inside the numbers : 32 -  Number of points Chicago scored in the second quarter, just an obscene number for a poor offensive team who was missing players. A few of those were just the Sky beating the Sun down the court after misses, and that could have been the difference in the end.

Under the radar: The Sky went at Morrow or Diamond Miller with Elizabeth Williams and Azure Stevens, which made sense. Connecticut did counter with a lineup that featured both Griner and Olivia Nelson-Ododa, but that limits them on the offensive end (and they are already limited). For the most part, the Sun guards were decent, but Diggins still finished with 24 points including 11 free throws and the Sky only had 12 rebounds, so maybe it wasn’t that good?

I mentioned it earlier, but the fast break points Chicago got in the second quarter were huge. You can excuse it once, but when it happens four times in a five-minute span, it doesn’t reflect well on your team, especially one that should be desperate.

Quotable:  “It starts for me with defense down the stretch. We have to keep our focus and get stops. In the last five minutes, we didn’t have the mindset that a defensive stop can change the game. They got some important offensive rebounds. We have to be able to step up in close games." - Rachid Meziane

Next up: Monday vs. New York, 7 p.m.