Thomas returns from shoulder injury to lead Sun past Aces

Alyssa Thomas, knocked out of Game 2 two days ago by a dislocated shoulder, made a surprise start and led the Connecticut Sun to a 77-68 victory over the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday night for a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series.

Thomas scored 23 points on 10-of-21 shooting and had 12 rebounds. She pushed the Sun to victory in the closing minutes, scoring eight points in the final three minutes, the last basket coming after a steal with 45 seconds remaining for a seven-point edge.

Thomas was injured midway through the first quarter Tuesday night in a loss and was listed as out before her status was changed to questionable Thursday.

Brionna Jones had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and DeWanna Bonner 12 points and 10 boards for the Sun. It’s the first time in league postseason history a team had three players with double-doubles in points and rebounds. Bonner moved up to 12th in career playoff points, passing Taj McWilliams-Franklin.

A’ja Wilson led the Aces with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Angel McCoughtry added 16 points.

The Sun will try to wrap up the series Sunday.

STORM 89, LYNX 79

Jewell Loyd scored 20 points and Seattle beat Minnesota to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Loyd had 10 points in a 12-0 run to end the first half, including consecutive 3-pointers, for a 46-33 lead and the Storm led the rest of the way, fending off multiple Lynx charges.

The second-seeded Storm beat No. 4 Minnesota in the series opener on Alysha Clark’s last-second putback. They have a chance to sweep the series Sunday.

Breanna Stewart, 0 of 7 from the arc, finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Seattle. Clark added 13 points and Natasha Howard 11.

Damiris Dantas made five 3-pointers and led the Lynx with 23 points. Odyssey Sims added 18.

Image credits: AP