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    Connecticut Sun Complete Comeback to Reach W.N.B.A. Finals

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    Connecticut forced a decisive Game 5, then beat the reigning champion Sky and set up a finals matchup with the Las Vegas Aces.The Chicago Sky looked like they were on their way to their second straight appearance in the W.N.B.A. finals. They led Connecticut by 9 points with less than five minutes to go in the decisive Game 5, and had held the Sun to just 14 points since halftime. Sky guard Kahleah Copper was dominating, forcing turnovers, flexing her muscles and clapping her hands en route to a game-high 22 points.But that was it for the Sky: They were held scoreless for the final 4 minutes and 46 seconds of the game. The Sun used an 18-0 run to stun the Sky on their home floor, 72-63, and advance to the finals, where they will face the Las Vegas Aces starting Sunday in Las Vegas.The Sun’s win avenges their loss to the Sky in the semifinals last year. It also ends the Chicago’s quest to become the first team to repeat as W.N.B.A. champion since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and 2002.The Sun were paced by double-doubles from Jonquel Jones (15 points and 10 rebounds) and Alyssa Thomas (12 points and 10 rebounds). Sun forward DeWanna Bonner added 15 points and 9 rebounds.Through the first three games of the series, Chicago’s Candace Parker was nearly unstoppable. She averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds to help the Sky get out to a 2-1 series lead. But in Game 4, the Sun neutralized Parker, holding her to just 11 points and 9 rebounds.And on the offensive side of the ball, the Sun dominated Parker and the Sky from the inside. The Sun have one of the tallest and most physical frontcourts in the league with Jonquel Jones (6-foot-6), Bonner (6-foot-4), Brionna Jones (6-foot-3), and Thomas (6-foot-2); they used that to their advantage to score a playoff-record 66 points from the painted area in Game 4. They beat the Sun, 104-80, achieving a franchise playoff record for points scored in a game to tie the series at two games apiece.Early in Game 5, Chicago’s offense was stagnant, with players seeming nervous to shoot the ball close to the basket for fear of being blocked by one of the Sun’s bigs. The Sun ended the first quarter down just 8 points, with Parker scoreless. In the second quarter, Copper took over. She scored 9 points to bring the game to a 40-40 tie to go into halftime with the momentum on the Sky’s side.Parker continued to struggle offensively, but she was dominant on defense, blocking four shots and grabbing three steals. The Sky held the Sun to 8 points in the third and led by 10 points heading into the final quarter. But the Sky would score just 5 points for the remainder of the game, as the Sun scored 24 to silence the Chicago crowd and advance to the finals. More

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      W.N.B.A. Semifinals Check-In: Can’t. Stop. Candace. Parker.

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      Both semifinals series are tied, 1-1. The Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm have shown offensive power, while the Connecticut Sun and Chicago Sky dig in on defense.As Chicago Sky guard Kahleah Copper and Connecticut Sun guard Courtney Williams tussled over the basketball in Game 1 of their W.N.B.A. semifinal series, Sky forward Candace Parker walked down the court, waving her hands in the air to ignite the Chicago crowd. The moment reflected how physical the series had been, and it was reminder of the teams’ history.In 2021, the sixth-seeded Sky beat the top-seeded Sun in the semifinals en route to winning the championship, a title that has that has eluded the Sun. If the Sky win the title this season, they will be the first team to repeat since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001-2. After the Sky’s 85-77 victory in Game 2, the best-of-five series is tied at one game apiece.Sky forward Azurá Stevens said the series is “just about who wants it more, because they have beef with us from last year.”On the other side of the bracket, the Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm are also tied at 1-1. The series features some of the most recognizable names in the league and seven former No. 1 overall draft picks: Sue Bird (2002), Tina Charles (2010), Jewell Loyd (2015) and Breanna Stewart (2016) for Seattle; and Kelsey Plum (2017), A’ja Wilson (2018) and Jackie Young (2019) for Las Vegas.This is a rematch of the 2020 W.N.B.A. finals, in which the Storm swept the Aces and Stewart was named the most valuable player of the series. Stewart also won the award after leading the Storm to the title in 2018. If Seattle wins its fifth championship this year, it will break a tie with the Minnesota Lynx and Houston Comets for the most in W.N.B.A history. The Aces are still looking for their first title.Game 3 in each series is Sunday. Here is a look at how the teams have fared so far.No. 1 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 4 Seattle StormChelsea Gray has been the Las Vegas Aces’ leading scorer against the Seattle Storm.Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesThe Aces were the best offensive team in the W.N.B.A. this year. They led the league in points per game (90.4) and offensive efficiency (109.6). Four starters averaged at least 10 points per game: Plum (20.2), Wilson (19.5), Young (15.9) and Chelsea Gray (13.7).Through the first two games of the series against the Storm, Gray has arguably been the Aces’ most important player, managing the offense and scoring, and making pinpoint passes at crucial moments. She’s leading the team in points (21) and assists (6) per game during the playoffs.But Las Vegas has struggled in the first quarter.In Game 2, the Aces matched the Storm almost point-for-point in the first seven minutes and got out to a 16-13 lead. Then a 3 by Seattle’s Stephanie Talbot tied the game and sparked a 10-0 run that pushed the Storm toward a seven-point advantage going into the second quarter. The first quarter of Game 1 was similar, as the Aces gave up 26 points and trailed by 11 at the end of the period.Stewart and Loyd combined for 50 points on 52.8 percent shooting in Seattle’s Game 1 win. Stewart dominated most of the game, and Loyd scored 10 of the Storm’s final 12 points and assisted on the other basket. Her most impressive basketball of that tear came with just over 30 seconds remaining in the game, with the Storm holding a 1-point lead and Wilson — the defensive player of the year — guarding her at the 3-point line. Loyd crossed from her right to left hand before stepping back and knocking down a long 2-pointer over Wilson’s outstretched arms.But Loyd struggled in the Game 2 loss.Loyd finished 2 of 10 from the field and 0 for 3 from the 3-point line for just 8 points. While Stewart tallied 32 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, the only other Storm player in double figures was Charles, who scored 17 points on 17 shot attempts. The good sign for the Storm is that even with Loyd’s struggles, they were in the game until the end.No. 2 Chicago Sky vs. No. 3 Connecticut SunJonquel Jones has helped the Connecticut Sun outrebound the Sky.Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesThe Sky have struggled in Game 1s this postseason, losing both at home. The Sun benefited from that in their semifinal series, but they have felt the pain of playing against Parker.The Sun had the second-best defensive rating in the league in the regular season (96.3), and they held the Sky to their lowest point total of the season in their 68-63 Game 1 victory. But Parker still had an astounding stat line: 19 points, 18 rebounds, 6 blocks, 5 assists and 4 steals. All of that and she had just 2 turnovers.Parker is doing almost everything for the Sky on the floor. She had another impressive stat line in Game 2 with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks in the win. She also hit 3 of 4 3-pointers.The most challenging part about playing the Sky is that on any given night, a different player, or multiple players, could go for 20 points. The stat line doesn’t show Parker’s effectiveness in keeping the Sky’s offensive churning: After rebounds, she often looks ahead to Copper, who is often already behind the defense for a score.The Sky’s roster is among the best in the W.N.B.A., and they breezed to a franchise-best 26 wins because of it. Still, the Sun’s physical frontcourt, with Jonquel Jones (6-foot-6), DeWanna Bonner (6-foot-4), Brionna Jones (6-foot-3) and Alyssa Thomas (6-foot-2), has outrebounded the Sky in the series, 86-65. The rebounding advantage didn’t hinder the Sky from picking up a win in Game 2 and nearly securing Game 1, when Parker had 18 rebounds. But they will need a group effort to neutralize the Sun’s size. More

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      Chicago Sky Silence Liberty Crowd With Game 3 Win

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      The Chicago Sky had to play the decisive game of their first-round series against the Liberty on the road — unusual for a team tied for the best record in the W.N.B.A.As the public address announcer at Barclays Center called the names of the Chicago Sky starters, the deafening boos of the white-knuckled Liberty fans filling the stands drowned out his voice.Boos are typical for any team playing in an opposing arena but uncommon for one like the Sky, who tied for the league’s best record in the regular season and, on this night, were in the decisive game of a playoff series against a team that sneaked into the playoffs as the seventh seed. Home-court advantage in big moments is supposed to be the reward for having a better record. Not this time.The W.N.B.A. switched playoff formats this season, replacing a single-elimination opening round with best-of-three series that put the lower seed at home in Game 3. Sky Coach James Wade has said that he is “not a fan of it at all.”Still, the raucous environment didn’t seem to bother the No. 2-seeded Sky on Tuesday. With the boos raining down, the starters went through their special handshake routines with guard Kahleah Copper, then propelled Chicago to a 90-72 victory over the Liberty in Game 3 to win their first-round series. The Sky advanced to the semifinals, where they will play the winner of Wednesday night’s matchup between the Connecticut Sun and the Dallas Wings.Chicago won its first-ever championship last season and, with a win this year, would be the first W.N.B.A. team to repeat since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2002.On Tuesday, Copper and guard Allie Quigley led the Sky with 15 points apiece, and forward Candace Parker added a near triple-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists. Betnijah Laney led the Liberty with 15 points.Quigley said the crowd energy played a role in the game and that she wished the Sky could have hosted the first and final games, instead of the first two. “I do remember the crowd at one point and just all the towels flying, and I’m like, ‘All right, we’ve got to figure it out,’” Quigley said with a laugh.Sabrina Ionescu, the Liberty’s All-Star guard, didn’t have much of an impact in the first three quarters, with just 9 points. But even with her low-scoring output, the Liberty were only down 10 points after the third quarter. When the final period began, Ionescu attacked the basket and scored 2 points while drawing a foul. She missed the free throw, but collected the rebound a few steps behind the 3-point line and launched the ball, scoring again.The 3-pointer sent the crowd into a frenzy. The Sky called a timeout, and fans swung Liberty towels in the air and roared. After Wade addressed the team, Parker huddled with her teammates and spoke emphatically before the group returned to the floor.Parker missed a 3-pointer out of the timeout, and the Liberty got the rebound. Laney hit a layup to cut the Sky lead to 3, reigniting the crowd. But the run ended there. The Sky scored 16 unanswered points, which effectively ended the game.The Sky fell apart in Game 1, losing after the Liberty went on a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter. But Chicago has played like a different team since.“I think we saw a version of ourselves that we fell in love with,” Copper said, “and that we want to grow on, and there’s just no going back.”The Sky set a W.N.B.A. playoff record for the largest margin of victory with a 38-point win against the Liberty in Game 2.“We done set the tone, so anything under that is just unacceptable,” Copper said. “We know how we want to play, and we know what we’re capable of. And that’s what we’re going to do.”Despite the 18-point margin of victory in Game 3, the win didn’t come easily, even from the start. The Liberty responded to most of the Sky’s scores early, keeping the game tight for much of the first quarter.Copper, who willed the Sky to their Game 2 victory, helped Chicago stay ahead in the first quarter with a steal and 6 points that included a tough layup over the outstretched arms of multiple Liberty defenders. Sky guards Courtney Vandersloot and Quigley helped extend the lead with 21 of the Sky’s 54 points in the first half. Vandersloot also had four assists in the first half.Liberty Coach Sandy Brondello said “the more experienced team won tonight.” But she was proud of how her team bounced back from the 38-point loss in Game 2 and is looking forward to improving next season, she said.“Even when we were losing, we thought we were getting better,” Brondello said. She added: “I think with a few extra players, we can be more aggressive, and that will help us moving forward.”Liberty forward Natasha Howard, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds, said she was impressed with how the team remained focused despite losing games and dealing with the many “ups and downs” of the 2022 season. Laney, who missed most of the season with a knee injury, echoed Howard.“I think we grew a lot individually and as a team,” Laney said, “and that’s what it’s going to take. It’s going to take a team to come out and get to the goal we want.” More

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      Kahleah Copper Leads Sky in Rout of Liberty in Game 2

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      The Liberty stunned Chicago in Game 1, then the Sky returned the favor with a record-setting win in Game 2.One thing was evident early in the Game 2 playoff matchup between the Chicago Sky and the Liberty: If the Sky were going to lose their first-round series, it would not be because of Kahleah Copper.Copper looked eager to get the game going before tipoff on Saturday, bouncing up and down on the court, clapping her hands and energetically talking with teammates. After the ball was tipped, she blew by Liberty defenders for tough layups, yelled after the finishes and took on the challenge of guarding Sabrina Ionescu, the Liberty’s All-Star guard.Copper finished with 10 points in the first quarter, matching the Liberty’s total score and propelling Chicago to a 21-point lead that all but ended the game. The Liberty never recovered from Copper’s first-quarter barrage and the Sky won, 100-62, to tie the best-of-three series at one game apiece. Game 3 is on Tuesday at Barclays Center.“I definitely approached this game with a chip on my shoulder,” Copper said. “We lost at home in front of our crowd who shows up consistently and gives us everything, so it was important for us to respond.”Sky Coach James Wade said the Game 1 loss woke the team up, inspiring them to play Saturday’s game with an intensity that matched how the team had approached games throughout the season. Guard Courtney Vandersloot echoed Wade’s sentiments and said that they came into the game with a “different mentality.”“I think you saw a different team tonight, and we feel like a different team,” she said.Copper ignited the crowd in the first quarter after she connected on a corner 3-pointer in front of the Sky bench, turned, and ran down the floor with three fingers raised. She gave Wade a high five as she passed him. The Liberty called timeout.The Sky’s 38-point win set a W.N.B.A. record for the largest margin of victory in playoff history. (The Sky held the previous record, with a 36-point victory in Game 3 of last year’s finals against the Phoenix Mercury.)“I expected this from Chicago, but I didn’t think it would be such a butt-kicking,” Liberty Coach Sandy Brondello said. She added that she was disappointed with the way the Liberty let Copper and other players “drive right by them,” along with their poor decision-making and 19 turnovers.“We’re not built like them,” she said. “We don’t have a Copper that can drive by anyone. Our one-on-one defense has to be better.”The Sky won their first W.N.B.A. championship in 2021 largely because of Copper’s fearless playing style and her ability to elevate her game — and that of her teammates — in the biggest moments. After the Sky lost Game 2 of the finals last season, Copper outscored the Mercury’s starting five in the first half of Game 3. She was named the most valuable player of the finals.So, with the Sky on the brink of elimination on Saturday, Copper performed how her teammates and Wade expected her to. And Wade made point of calling out a recent ESPN ranking that listed Copper as the 17th best player in the playoffs. “I know she’s probably the 17th best player in the playoffs right now, but you know, we’ll take that 17,” Wade deadpanned.Copper’s scores came from a variety of acrobatic layups in which she twisted and turned in the air before finishing. She has become known for her superb touch around the basket, which Vandersloot said is somewhat unfortunate because Copper’s stellar finishes have become expected.“She has such a unique ability to finish through contact, and through multiple players, and she makes it look easy and what she’s doing is not easy,” Vandersloot said. “But you know, she’s kind of our engine, and when she’s doing that, we’re special.”Copper’s crucial performance came a day after the Sky looked like they might have to play without her. She left the Sky’s Friday practice early after an unspecified injury. Wade dismissed questions about the injury and told reporters before the game on Saturday that she was “fine.” Copper looked healthy as she led all scorers with 20 points, and nagged the Liberty — especially Ionescu — all over the court, earning three steals. Wade said Copper’s ability to play both ends of the floor is what makes her special, and that her defense is an undervalued part of her game.“Her ability to be disruptive and then, on the other end, get us a bucket and actually draw the defense in, it sets a tone,” Wade said. “And the tone is what we need, and she was able to do that tonight, and she does that most nights for us.”Michaela Onyenwere said Chicago “exploited” them in multiple ways, mainly with their toughness. That was the most disappointing aspect of the loss because the Liberty expected the Sky to play that way but “faltered to the pressure,” she said.“I think just looking at ourselves first, I think, is the first thing we start with,” she said. “Continue to play together and continue to know that this is our season that’s on the line. So you know, I believe wholeheartedly that we will respond better than we did today.”The loss for the seventh-seeded Liberty came after they stunned the No. 2-seeded Sky in Chicago in the first game of the series on Wednesday. In that game, the Liberty held Chicago scoreless for the final 3 minutes 31 seconds and went on a 13-0 run, winning 98-91. But on Saturday they did not look like the team that accomplished that feat; Brondello said it was because “we went away from what we wanted to accomplish here and playing together as a team.”She added: “But it’s nice to know we have, you know, we have one more game, and hopefully, we can bring a better effort and hopefully the result will be positive.” More

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      W.N.B.A. Season Preview: New Talent Is Here, but an Absence Looms

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      The league will honor Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, who remains in custody in Russia, as its new season begins Friday.The longest W.N.B.A. season in league history will begin on Friday. For the first time, teams will each play 36 regular-season games as the next step in the league’s plan for incremental growth — a plan stifled for the past two seasons by the coronavirus pandemic.As the league enters its 26th season, new sponsors and some increased engagement from team ownership is inspiring some optimism about the state of the W.N.B.A. Growth in viewership at the college level means more buzz for graduating players aiming to become professionals, while new broadcast deals and a heavier emphasis from the league’s primary partner, ESPN, have made games more accessible.Looming over all that optimism, though, is the continued absence of one of the league’s best players, Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia — where she also plays professionally — since February on drug charges. An image of Griner and her jersey number No. 42 will be on each team’s court throughout the season.“We are keeping Brittney at the forefront of what we do through the game of basketball,” W.N.B.A. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement.Here’s what to expect from the 12 W.N.B.A. teams this season.Seattle StormThis could be Sue Bird’s final season. The Seattle Storm drafted her No. 1 overall in 2002. She turns 42 in October.Matt York/Associated PressNo matter what happens, this season will likely mark the end of an era for the Storm and for women’s basketball. After contemplating retirement last season, Sue Bird announced in January that she would return and with the hashtag #1moreyear suggested this season would be her last. When she was drafted No. 1 overall by Seattle in 2002, the franchise had played only two seasons; four championships later, won in part by Bird’s consistency, the Storm have become one of the most dominant teams in W.N.B.A. history.The 41-year-old’s farewell tour will inevitably include many teary tributes and gaudy highlight reels, but the Storm will aim for its final stop to be a champions’ parade. The team is playing its first season in the new Climate Pledge Arena, which the Storm are sharing with the N.H.L.’s Kraken. The Storm will still have Breanna Stewart, who met with the Liberty in the off-season before signing a one-year deal, and Jewell Loyd, who also met with the Liberty before re-signing for two years. Bird, Stewart and Loyd form the team’s core, and the likelihood of playing without them in the near future makes the team’s quest for a league-leading fifth title more urgent than ever.Los Angeles SparksNneka Ogwumike will have some offensive reinforcements on the Sparks this season with the additions of Liz Cambage, Jordin Canada and Chennedy Carter.Michael Conroy/Associated PressA host of new faces crowd the Sparks roster, as Los Angeles looks to reignite this season. The team struggled last year in the wake of Candace Parker’s departure and the fallout from a legal battle with Penny Toler, the team’s former general manager.The Sparks had an excellent season defensively in 2021 but fell short of the playoffs for the first time since 2011 because of their woeful offense. This year, they’ve added starpower designed to boost their scoring with the flashy young guards Chennedy Carter and Jordin Canada and center Liz Cambage, who owns the single-game scoring record and is looking for a fresh start after promising seasons in Las Vegas that still ended short of titles. The question is how all those talents will fit together under Coach Derek Fisher: There aren’t many role players on this Los Angeles team, so sorting out responsibilities could prove challenging.Those players will join Nneka Ogwumike, still the team’s best chance at filling that Parker-size hole, as well as the veterans Brittney Sykes and Kristi Toliver as they chase a new kind of chemistry befitting the franchise’s storied legacy.Indiana FeverNaLyssa Smith, a rookie out of Baylor, could be the difference-maker for the Indiana Fever, as it rebuilds.Adam Hunger/Associated PressFor the sixth year in a row, the Fever will try to return to the playoffs — or at least not be the worst team in the league yet again. Without a modicum of success to show for years of high draft picks, Indiana was compelled to nearly start from scratch this year. The team amassed four picks in the first round alone after cutting Kysre Gondrezick, their top pick in the 2021 draft at No. 4 overall.A gaggle of rookies, then, will join the veterans Danielle Robinson, Bria Hartley, Tiffany Mitchell and Kelsey Mitchell, as Lin Dunn, the interim general manager, tries to right the ship.NaLyssa Smith, Indiana’s top 2022 draft pick at No. 2 overall, was dominant at Baylor and enters the W.N.B.A. with something to prove after an underwhelming senior postseason. She’s been clamoring to compete at the professional level and, at 6-foot-4 with impressive athleticism, Smith could well prove to be the difference-maker the Fever desperately need.Dallas WingsArike Ogunbowale, the sharpshooting All-Star, has been the center of Dallas’s offense.Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesLast season, the Wings had one of the youngest rosters in the league. Though they seem to have found some stability, having made only one non-draft addition, the 6-foot-7 center Teaira McCowan, there’s still some uncertainty about how the team will balance all that potential. Dallas has a lot of depth but few clear front-runners who can define the team’s core.Arike Ogunbowale is one exception to that rule. The sharpshooting All-Star has been the centerpiece of Dallas’s offense, and she signed a multiyear extension in the off-season. She had help from guard Marina Mabrey, her former Notre Dame teammate; they work together so well they have earned the moniker Marike.This season, the second-year Wings Coach Vickie Johnson, will try to take the team past the first round in the playoffs for the first time since 2015 by finding consistency in the frontcourt. Forward Satou Sabally, with her refined footwork inside and ability to find high-percentage shots, seems like the perfect balance for Ogunbowale’s pull-up-from-anywhere mentality — the Wings just have to make sure she’s touching the ball.Minnesota LynxLynx center Sylvia Fowles won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2021. She has said this will be her last season.Andy Clayton-King/Associated PressThe four-time champion Lynx will lose the final piece of their last two title-winning squads at the end of this season with the retirement of the 6-foot-6 center Sylvia Fowles, who was playing at a near-M.V.P. level last season despite being 35 years old then.Fowles’s continuing dominance could push Minnesota back into position to win in the postseason. However, she and Coach Cheryl Reeve will face the added challenge of competing without forward Napheesa Collier, the team’s leading scorer last season, who is pregnant and likely to miss most or all of the season.The five-time All-Star Angel McCoughtry, who injured her knee last season, will join Fowles in the effort to push the Lynx back to the playoffs for the 12th consecutive year. The veterans Kayla McBride and Aerial Powers round out a Lynx roster that could, once again, outperform expectations, thanks to Reeve’s consistent coaching and the team’s experience.Las Vegas AcesA’ja Wilson led the Aces to the brink of the championship series last season.Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesThe story of the Aces centers on one crucial off-season move: the introduction of Becky Hammon as the highest-paid head coach in the W.N.B.A. Combined with the construction of a shiny, new Aces-specific practice facility in Henderson, Nev., Hammon’s hiring was part of owner Mark Davis’s efforts to flaunt his investments in the team so far. All that’s left is for the team to finally win its first title.Hammon will undoubtedly be in the spotlight — perhaps even more so than her players — after returning to the W.N.B.A., where she first flourished as a player, and passing up what many saw as a likely shot to become the first female head coach in N.B.A. history.In her first head coaching role, the longtime San Antonio Spurs assistant will try to retool the Aces following the departure of center Liz Cambage and forward Angel McCoughtry, veteran talents who accounted for much of the team’s production. Last season ended with an ugly upset loss to the Mercury in the playoffs, one game away from the championship series. This year, Hammon will work with A’ja Wilson, the 2020 M.V.P., to take the talented team to the next level, relying on guards Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum to amp up the Aces’ offense.New York LibertyBetnijah Laney made her first All-Star team in 2021, helping lead the Liberty to the playoffs.Sarah Stier/Getty ImagesThe Liberty’s 2021 season was a surprise: It was Betnijah Laney who took the reins to lead the team back to the playoffs for the first time since 2017 and not Natasha Howard, the former defensive player of the year who missed most of the season with a knee injury or the highly-touted guard Sabrina Ionescu.This season, they’ve added Stefanie Dolson from the reigning champion Sky and hired a new coach, Sandy Brondello, to put all the pieces together. The team is full of potential but a complete mystery as far as chemistry. Despite losing 10 of their last 12 games at the end of the 2021 regular season, the Liberty were two points shy of upsetting the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the playoffs — a confusing outcome consistent with their unpredictability last season.If Brondello, who led the Mercury to a championship in 2014, can find consistency among a group of veterans who have found a lot of success on other teams, the Liberty might be able to make a deeper run in the playoffs.Phoenix MercuryThe Mercury will try to claim the franchise’s fourth title behind veterans like Skylar Diggins-Smith, right, and Tina Charles, center.Rebecca Noble for The New York TimesThe Mercury begin the season under a particularly large shadow: the continued detention of their star center, Brittney Griner, in Russia, where she has been held since February. Her indefinite absence leaves a huge hole in the team and league, on and off the court. Until she returns, the Mercury will have to figure out how to play without one of the most dominant centers in W.N.B.A. history for the first extended period in nearly a decade.An esteemed group of veterans will also be fighting for another title. Skylar Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi were joined by Tina Charles in the off-season, sparking much discussion about so-called superteams in the W.N.B.A. Coach Vanessa Nygaard, in her first year, has been charged with getting the team into shape to try to claim the franchise’s fourth championship. Phoenix made it to last season’s championship series before losing in four games to the underdog Chicago Sky.Taurasi, who will turn 40 years old in June, insists that she’s not planning on retiring anytime soon. But she — the league’s career leading scorer — has had nagging injuries over the past few seasons, making the Mercury’s pursuit of another deep postseason run even more pressing than usual.Connecticut SunJonquel Jones is back for Connecticut after winning the league’s Most Valuable Player Award last season.Sean D. Elliot/The Day, via Associated PressThe Sun have been nothing if not consistent over the past few seasons, both in their regular season dominance and in their inability to finally secure the franchise’s first championship. If they were ever in win-now mode, though, this would be the time, having re-signed Jonquel Jones, last season’s M.V.P., in the off-season.Jones rejoins Alyssa Thomas, Jasmine Thomas, DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones — one of the league’s most consistent core groups. While other teams around the league are working out their rotations, the Sun and their longtime coach, Curt Miller, will look to refine a long-established dynamic. Even their biggest move of the off-season — securing the return of guard Courtney Williams — was to bring a team veteran back into the fold after her brief stint with the Atlanta Dream.Connecticut can nearly take for granted the fact that this group will reprise one of the better defenses in the W.N.B.A., with its veterans who seem to summon unfathomable energy to stifle opponents year after year. The trouble comes when the shots stop falling for the physical team. Williams, and perhaps some offense-minded young players coming off the bench, will have to close that gap.Atlanta DreamAtlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft, fights for the ball during a preseason game against the Sun.Sean D. Elliot/The Day, via Associated PressThe Dream seem like they have been in rebuilding mode for several seasons now, winning single-digit games in each of their past three seasons and facing turnover at the coaching and ownership tiers.But this season, Atlanta will attempt to actually start fresh, with the first-year head coach, Tanisha Wright, and a slew of young talent joining Tiffany Hayes and Monique Billings, who have stuck with the Dream through all those losses. Aari McDonald, whom the Dream drafted with the third overall pick last year, will be joined by the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft, Rhyne Howard — whom Atlanta traded up to snag — and Kristy Wallace, who spent the past few years honing her skills in an Australian professional league. The veterans Erica Wheeler and Nia Coffey, both of whom last played for the Sparks, round out the upstart group, which will aim to outperform expectations and make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2018.Chicago SkyKahleah Copper had a breakout season with the Sky in 2021 and was named M.V.P. of the finals.Paul Beaty/Associated PressAfter winning their first championship as underdogs in 2021, the Sky return as contenders to become the first W.N.B.A. team to win repeat titles in two decades. Many core members of last season’s team are back, including Candace Parker; Kahleah Copper, last year’s finals M.V.P.; and the veteran guards Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot. The team added center Emma Meesseman, who was the finals M.V.P. when the Mystics won the 2019 championship.The Sky must have been certain that this group would be enough when they traded away all of their 2022 draft picks, relying instead on their veteran squad and the talents of Coach James Wade to lead them to another deep postseason run. Copper in particular, who stuffed her 2021 finals highlight reels with circus shots and tough layups, will look to continue her breakout run this season.Washington MysticsThe Mystics’ season could hinge on whether Elena Delle Donne has fully recovered from a back injury.Nick Wass/Associated PressSince winning the W.N.B.A. championship in 2019, the Mystics’ fate has revolved around one variable: whether Elena Delle Donne, who has played just three games in the past two seasons, can get and stay healthy. Delle Donne sustained a back injury in the 2019 W.N.B.A. finals that required multiple surgeries, left her with lingering back issues and has taken extensive therapy and conditioning work to overcome.If Delle Donne and Alysha Clark, who missed last season with a foot injury, can stay on the court, Washington’s roster suddenly looks a lot more solid. Ariel Atkins, Natasha Cloud and Myisha Hines-Allen are all settled well into Coach Mike Thibault’s system, and Elizabeth Williams, a new addition, can provide support in the post if Delle Donne isn’t ready to go. More

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      Chicago Sky Beat Phoenix Mercury for First W.N.B.A. Championship

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      CHICAGO — At the final buzzer, Candace Parker sprinted down the court in triumph.The tears had already started coming moments before, as the Chicago Sky, the team she’d joined just eight months ago after a 13-year career in Los Angeles, took a 4-point lead over the Phoenix Mercury in Game 4 of the W.N.B.A. finals.Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot then nailed two free throws. Phoenix center Brittney Griner missed a jumper on the other end of the floor, and it was over. The Sky had beaten the Mercury, 80-74, in Game 4 and three games to one in the series for the franchise’s first-ever championship.Chicago players barreled onto their home court at Wintrust Arena, their sweat-soaked faces now also dripping with tears. Parker embraced her family, and looked up at the crowd.“Look at the city, man. They all showed up,” she said. “They all showed up.”Fans packed Wintrust Arena in Chicago for the decisive Game 4 of the W.N.B.A. finals.During a postgame news conference, Parker said she was happy her family could be there.“It’s just an amazing feeling to be from here and see so many people in the stands who have been supporting you since you started,” said Parker, who grew up in Naperville, Ill., a Chicago suburb.It was the second W.N.B.A. title for Parker, who signed with Chicago as a free agent in February.She turned in a dominant performance on both ends of the court, finishing with 16 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. She was active on defense and knocked down a game-tying 3-pointer in the fourth quarter that gave Chicago game-clinching momentum after the Mercury had led for most of the game.The sixth-seeded Sky were unlikely champions after finishing the regular season with a .500 record. But they were the best team in the playoffs. They had to win single-elimination games against Dallas and Minnesota to reach the semifinals, where they earned a finals berth by knocking off the top-seeded Connecticut Sun and their star forward Jonquel Jones, who won the regular-season Most Valuable Player Award.The Sky won Game 1 of the finals in Phoenix thanks to a 21-point outing from forward Kahleah Copper, who was named the most valuable player of the finals. They dropped a close one in Game 2 then blew out Phoenix by 36 points in Game 3.The Sky struggled during the regular season, but were the best team throughout the playoffs.In Game 4, Griner nearly willed Phoenix to victory by herself. The Mercury consistently got her the ball in the paint, and she made the Sky pay every time they didn’t send a double team, and sometimes, even when they did. Griner finished with 28 points, 18 of which came in the first quarter.But the Sky had Parker, 35, one of the most decorated basketball players ever. She won two N.C.A.A. championships at the University of Tennessee, has two Olympic gold medals and won her first W.N.B.A. championship in 2016 with the Sparks. She was finals M.V.P. that year and has two regular-season M.V.P. Awards. This year, she became the first woman featured on the cover of NBA 2K, the popular basketball video game.The only thing she hadn’t done was, in part, why she came to Chicago: bring a championship to her hometown.“Going home has given me a sense of peace,” Parker said in an Instagram post in February. “I believe things come full circle.”Her arrival in Chicago put the Sky into title contention, even if an inconsistent regular season had many questioning how far they could go in the playoffs. That’s when Chicago relied on key performances from its other stars and role players.Fans cheer during Game 4 of the W.N.B.A. finals. The Sky’s Candace Parker, who grew up in a suburb of Chicago, said she was glad to play in front of people who watched her grow up.Guard Diamond DeShields shifted to coming off the bench late in the regular season, but Parker said after Game 3 of the finals that the team depended on her athleticism. DeShields was an essential part of the Sky’s dominant defensive effort in their 86-50 win over Phoenix in that game.“I wanted to guard everything. I wanted to guard everybody,” DeShields said after Game 3, in which Chicago held the Mercury to 25.8 percent shooting.Vandersloot, the Sky’s point guard who led the league in assists for the fifth straight year, averaged 10.2 assists per game in this year’s playoffs.Vandersloot logged a triple double in a double-overtime win over Connecticut — the league’s best defense in the regular season — in the first game of the semifinals, joining the Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes as the only players in W.N.B.A. history with a triple-double in the playoffs. She was a rebound away from another triple double in Game 4, finishing with 10 points, 15 assists and 9 rebounds.Other Sky players have come through in big ways, too.Their top scorer was Copper, who averaged 17.7 points per game in the playoffs. Vandersloot’s wife, Sky guard Allie Quigley, was averaging 14 points per game in the playoffs before Sunday, the second most on the team. And she saved her best performance for the title game. She scored 26 points on 9 of 14 shooting. She was 5 of 10 from 3-point range.“Allie really changed the momentum of the game there, and we just missed a few,” Phoenix Coach Sandy Brondello said. “Maybe if we’d made a few of them, it would be a way more happier press conference, wouldn’t it?”In an unusual move, none of Phoenix’s players showed up for their postgame news conference.Chicago’s Kahleah Copper, center, was named the most valuable player of the finals.Sunday’s championship culminated a remarkable rise for Copper, the No. 7 overall draft pick by the Washington Mystics in 2016. She was traded to Chicago ahead of the 2017 season in a deal that sent Elena Delle Donne, the Sky’s former superstar forward, to the Mystics. Copper started in just 12 games from 2017 to 2019, fading behind Vandersloot, Quigley and DeShields.She had a breakout season in 2020 as she shifted to a starting role, more than doubling her minutes per game — to 31.3 in 2020 from 14.8 in 2019 — and points per game — to 14.9 from 6.7. Copper has since established herself as a star on the Sky and was the difference in this championship series.“This is how you make household names in your city,” Chicago Coach James Wade said after the game Sunday. “People are going to go around, they’re going to know who Sloot is, they’re going to know who Kah is. They already know who Candace is, but there’s so many stories out there on the floor that are unique.”During Wade’s post-championship news conference, Copper trotted toward him, gripping an empty Champagne class in her hand.“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said into a microphone on Wade’s left, adding that the team was waiting for him, “so we can celebrate.”Parker had 16 points, 5 assists and 4 steals in the Sky’s Game 4 victory.But before that, Copper had a few words of her own. “I knew we were going to win this championship yesterday when Allie was the only one in the gym shooting,” Copper said. She added: “When the playoffs started, we gave ourselves a clean slate. We totally forgot about the regular season.”It was a disappointing finish to the season for the Mercury, who last won a championship in 2014, when they swept the Sky for their third franchise title.Phoenix had a strong season behind Diana Taurasi, the W.N.B.A.’s career scoring leader, Griner, one of the best centers in the league, and Skylar Diggins-Smith, who has been a fearless scorer and playmaker her entire career since entering the league in 2013.Taurasi, who had been inconsistent throughout the series, had 16 points on Sunday, as did Diggins-Smith.But though they had kept Phoenix alive in so many critical games up to this point, on Sunday they couldn’t do enough to extend their season for one more game.The Mercury held a 63-54 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but were outscored by the Sky, 26-11, in the final period.“It’s just so crazy what we’ve been through,” Vandersloot said after the game. “No one knows.” More

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      Sky Bring Hoops Championship Buzz Back to Chicago

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      Sky forward Kahleah Copper’s hot shooting against the Mercury in Game 3 of the W.N.B.A. finals has the team one win away from its first title.CHICAGO — It has been more than 23 years since Michael Jordan stole the ball from Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone, drove the length of the court and nailed a jumper to give his Chicago Bulls a 1-point win in Game 6 of the N.B.A. finals. The unforgettable sequence secured the Bulls’ sixth championship and had Chicago fans reveling in a shared moment of pride.It has been a while since this city’s pro hoops fans have known that feeling, but the W.N.B.A.’s Sky have kept them familiar with high-stakes basketball.Draped in blue and yellow jerseys Friday night, eager Chicago fans packed into Wintrust Arena to watch the Sky take on the Phoenix Mercury in Game 3 of the W.N.B.A. finals.The city’s yearning for a championship manifested in the atmosphere. Fans swirled towels above their heads during the Sky’s player introductions. They booed and heckled Mercury players every possession. And they roared and bounced up and down all over the arena with every made Chicago basket. Every. Single. One.Late in the game, after Chicago was well on its way to an 86-50 victory that would put the Sky one win away from clinching their first championship in franchise history, a Sky fan yelled “better luck next year” at the Mercury players on the court.By the fourth quarter, both teams had already subbed out their starters. “Sky in four” chants erupted as Chicago’s bench entered, making one reality clear: Chicago is, again, ready for a championship moment.Game 4 is Sunday in Chicago. The Sky lead the best-of-five series, two games to one.“I really feel Chicago. I really feel it,” Sky Coach James Wade said after Friday’s game. “The way they came out and supported, you can feel the passion that they have. It just gives us more passion. Hopefully we can see the same things Sunday, and we can all celebrate together.”Chicago’s ability to rely on its stars’ strengths has the team on the verge of a title. Candace Parker’s vocal leadership on both ends of the floor. Guard Courtney Vandersloot’s skill in finding open teammates and facilitating the offense (she had 10 assists on Friday). And Chicago has increasingly relied on forward Kahleah Copper’s athleticism, the way she blows past defenders and how she takes advantage of one-on-one matchups — skills that have made her one of the most impactful players in the finals.The sixth-seeded Sky used a dominant team defensive performance and a statement game from Copper to gain potentially series-clinching momentum in Game 3, after upsetting the fifth-seeded Mercury in Game 1 and falling short in overtime in Game 2. They tied a W.N.B.A. finals record for the largest lead at halftime (22), set the record for largest margin of victory in a finals game (36) and held the Mercury to 25.8 percent shooting on the night.Parker, who is from the Chicago suburb Naperville and signed with the Sky after 13 seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks, had 13 points, 3 assists and 4 rebounds.Copper scored 20 of her 22 points in the first half as the Sky pulled away early, eliciting deafening roars from the home crowd, which included the Chicago native Chance the Rapper, N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver and Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields.“The one thing that probably doesn’t get talked about as much — her competitiveness,” Wade said of Copper. “That’s what it takes to get to the next level. We used to see it every day, even when she wasn’t playing as much. So it’s no surprise to us because we know what we have in her. Now she’s letting the world know. It’s just who she is.”Mercury Coach Sandy Brondello said after the game that Phoenix simply could not handle Copper, who was 6 of 10 from the floor.“We allowed her to sweep and go baseline way too much,” Brondello said. “When she’s shooting it from outside, you’ve got to give up something, don’t you? And she was making it. She had a really good game, and obviously that took the life out of us a little bit.”The scoring of Phoenix’s Big Three, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner and Skylar Diggins-Smith, has kept the team alive in critical games throughout the postseason. They combined for 56 points in the decisive Game 5 of the semifinals against the Las Vegas Aces. Now, even after an unusually poor shooting night against the Sky in Game 3 — they were a combined 10-for-36 from the field — they can be the key to keeping the Mercury’s season alive Sunday.Teams this postseason, and during most of the regular season, have had few answers for Griner’s dominance under the basket. She is a nightmare one-on-one matchup in the low post, and has gotten better at passing out of double teams to find open teammates on the perimeter.The Sky crowded Griner early, though, and held her to just 4 points in the second half Friday, for a total of 16 after she had scored a career-playoff high 29 in Game 2.When she got open looks, “she just missed them,” Brondello said. “They played in her space a little bit more. I think in the second half, you saw she went to the right hook.”Brondello added later, “She’s still someone we need to get the ball to as much as possible.”Mercury center Brittney Griner, left, defending Candace Parker. Griner was the only Phoenix player to score in double digits, with 16 points.Paul Beaty/Associated PressPhoenix last won the league title in 2014, when it defeated the Sky for its third championship in franchise history. This time, both teams have had a difficult path to the finals. The Sky finished the regular season with a 16-16 record, and few pegged them to make the finals. The Mercury limped into the postseason on a three-game losing streak, plagued by injuries.Could Sunday mark the end of an unlikely playoff run for both teams?With her head lowered in a postgame news conference and Taurasi sitting to her left, Diggins-Smith summed up what the Mercury have to do to extend the series and send it back to Phoenix.“Charge it to the game,” Diggins-Smith said, indicating Phoenix’s need to quickly move past Friday’s disappointing performance and refocus.“We didn’t lose the series tonight.” More