Caitlin Clark has a “welcome to playoff basketball” moment but struggles as the Sun beats the Fever 93-69

It’s an old basketball cliché for good reason:

Defense wins championships.

The Connecticut Sun have had the best defense in the WNBA this season, and it showed on Sunday when they frustrated one of the top three offenses – Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever – in the playoff opener. Once the Sun found their offensive rhythm, the game turned into a runaway victory.

The Sun won 93-69 and took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Connecticut can close the series with a win on Wednesday and spare Indiana another home game.

Caitlin Clark, welcome to playoff basketball – she had a bruise under her eye after being bumped there in the first quarter, but added that wasn't the reason for her miss. And it was wrong. Clark started 0 of 8 three-pointers and didn't hit her first shot from beyond the three-point line until midway through the third quarter. She finished with 11 points on 4 of 17 shooting, including 2 of 13 three-pointers.

“I had some really good chances. I felt like I had three pretty open threes in the first half that you normally make,” Clark said after the game. “So that's tough, but I felt like I fought and did my best.”

DeWanna Bonner and his Sun teammates disrupted Clark's flow – and it wasn't just Clark. The entire Fever team struggled to find rhythm against the Sun, hitting just 6 of 28 (21.4%) three-pointers throughout the game.

Good defense throws a team off tempo and makes the game a little uglier, and that's exactly what Connecticut did on Sunday.

Two other things went well for the Suns. First, their All-NBA two-way player Alyssa Thomas recorded her fourth career triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.

The game also changed when Tyasha Harris left the game in the first quarter after spraining her ankle during a closeout. That put even more pressure on substitute Marina Maybrey to step up – and she did, scoring 27 points, the most points ever scored by a substitute in a WNBA playoff game.

The game was close early on. The Sun led 23-20 after the first quarter, thanks largely to the six offensive rebounds they grabbed, which gave them plenty of second chances. Well, that and Bonner, who scored 10 points in the first quarter, including a couple of 3s.

The game began to turn when the Sun went on a 9-0 run late in the first half and extended their lead to eight points, 46-38, by halftime. Connecticut turned the tables on the Fever by taking advantage of every opportunity they got, which resulted in not only baskets but fouls as well.

In the third quarter, Clark finally found his rhythm, but so did Connecticut's Mabrey – a mid-season transfer from Chicago – who scored 11 points in the quarter. The Sun extended their lead to 15 by the end of the third quarter. Then came the fourth and the Fever looked like what they were: the less experienced team in key moments. The Sun went full throttle and the game became a runaway victory.

Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 21 points, while Aliyah Boston showed off her improved short roll skills, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Connecticut's defense will be back for Game 2 on Wednesday. If the Fever can't adjust, their season is over.

Other action on the first day of the WNBA playoffs:

New York 83, Atlanta 69: The number one seed New York started the game with 6 of 6 shots, built a 15-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back in its first playoff game of the series against an inferior team from Atlanta.

Brianna Stewart had her usual monster game with 20 points and 10 rebounds, but it was rookie Leonie Fiebich who led New York with 21 points.

Atlanta's leading scorer this season, Rhyne Howard, started the game 1 of 9 shooting and struggled against the Liberty defense, but still finished with a team-best 14 points. New York can close out the series at home in Game 2.