Connecticut's bid for the WNBA title ends in the semifinals

“Everyone takes it to a new level once you get to the playoffs, and it takes a lot more discipline and even more toughness to make it to the finals,” Jones said. “We’ve been there, so we know exactly what’s important.”

It took me three years to come back. In retrospect, a long journey can seem short. In the two seasons in between, the Sun lost twice in the semifinals.

They not only had one away win in 2020, but four points. A 66-63 loss to the Las Vegas Aces in a life-threatening Game 5 showed how slim and how painful the margins are. In 2021, they were one series away, but this series wasn't close. The Sky beat the Sun in four games.

When they made it back to the finals in 2022, a title was within reach but still well out of their reach. They lost to the Aces in another four-game series.

They came close again last year when they lost to the Liberty in the semifinals. They got even closer on Tuesday night when they faced the Minnesota Lynx in Game 5 with another trip to the Finals on the line.

The Sun snatched a 13-point loss in the first quarter that ballooned to 19 by halftime – the largest halftime deficit in a Game 5 in WNBA history – and no matter how close they got to the score, one Returning to the finals was further away after an 88-77 loss ended their run at Target Center.

“Every round, every step, every game you win brings you closer to the championship,” said DeWanna Bonner, who scored 14 points and added eight rebounds. “But the closer you get, the harder it becomes. The better the teams you play against. It's really hard to come back here.

“It's really hard to get to this point in the season, so kudos to my team for doing it. But I think we didn't understand that every time we win a game, it becomes more and more difficult until you reach your final goal. Unfortunately, they wanted it more, but I’m still proud of us for getting to this point.”

The Sun have been to four finals. The Lynx refused the Sun a fifth trip.

The only team that has failed to win a title more than once is the New York Liberty. They have a chance to change that after finishing the regular season with the league's best record, dethroning the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals and edging ahead to host the Lynx in Game 1 of the Finals on Thursday.

They Sun have been to the Eastern Conference semifinals (or finals) eleven times, including each of the last six seasons. Their 48 postseason victories as a franchise are the fourth-most in WNBA history.

They have been standing on the doorstep for 26 years, knocking near and far at the same time.

“Every team is so different,” head coach Stephanie White said. “They were there. This group (Bonner, Jones and Thomas) was there. They were in the final. When you're there, it sometimes feels like you're just a shot away. Of course, with the way a season goes, you also need a bit of luck. Unfortunately, we were presented with a good opportunity that we couldn’t take advantage of.”

White has made it to the semifinals twice in two seasons with the Sun. In 2015 she led the Indiana Fever to the finals. She listed the ingredients for a final run.

“Like anything, it takes a little bit of luck,” she said. “Must stay healthy. You have to get hot at the right time.”

The Sun came up empty on all fronts in Game 5. Luck and health betrayed her when Marina Mabrey stepped on a cameraman's foot along the baseline in the second quarter and tweaked her ankle. Mabrey played just 14 minutes (the fewest she's played all season) and scored eight points on 3 of 5 shooting (2 for 4 from 3) before she announced she was coming out in the third quarter, limping only to finish Move the floor up and down.

As for the Heat, the Sun offense couldn't find the pilot light. The Lynx held them to 38.5 percent from the floor. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve had the numbers ready when her team defends so well.

“I almost guaranteed you we were going to play the defense we played,” Reeve said. “We are now 180-(11) since 2011 when we held our opponents under 40 percent. It was special to do that to this team and it was necessary to exclude them.”

On a night when Napheesa Collier gave the Lynx a double-double with 27 points and 11 rebounds and the Lynx shot 49.3 percent from the floor (34 of 69, 10 of 26 from 3), the Sun couldn't conjure up enough offense push through.

“It takes a lot to get to this point,” White said. “It takes a lot to get to the finals and win a championship. Every year every team is a little different. But the most important thing it takes is consistency. You have to be able to walk the same path every night. Certainly the course of a season has its ups and downs and the players have their ups and downs, but there has to be a consistency and a tough mentality.”

“I think if you think about DB, AT and Breezy, our three core businesses have been there. They know what's important, they know the hardship, they know the strain, the ups and downs. They've gotten us to this point and I think it's a really good opportunity for our young players and the players who haven't been here before to see that and realize what it takes to get to the next step. “

The Lynx are in the rarefied air of the WNBA. They have won four titles – second only to the Houston Comets, who scored four goals when the league was founded in 1997, and the Seattle Storm, who extended their success over 16 years, from their first title in 2004 to their last in Year 2020. They have been to six finals.

Tuesday's victory gave the Lynx their 48th playoff victory, the most in WNBA history.

Reeve was on the sidelines for all but one.

“Every championship team I coached — or every winning team — had a selflessness, a chemistry at their core,” she said.

Despite winning 14 of their last 16 games to close out the season, with the Liberty leading the league head and shoulders and chasing the Aces to a three-peat, the Lynx were the championship-caliber team that no one seemed to have expected – except the Lynx.

“Their belief in themselves and each other is extraordinary – and it never falters,” Reeve said.

Julian Benbow can be reached at [email protected].