Five must-watch games for the Connecticut Sun in 2023

The Sun will play 40 games this regular season as part of the longest season in league history, so fans will have plenty of chances to see the Sun in action as they again look to secure the franchise’s first championship. Here are five games that Sun fans can’t miss this season:

The Next, a 24/7/365 women’s basketball newsroom

The Next: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX. 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff and dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.

Five must-watch games for Connecticut Sun

Friday, May 19 – Season opener at Indiana Fever

• The Sun’s season opener isn’t the flashiest game on the schedule, but it’ll be a good matchup for opening night. Both teams will be debuting new coaching staffs, including Sun head coach Stephanie White, an Indiana native who will be facing the team she played and coached for. And while the Sun are coming off a Finals appearance, all eyes will (likely) be on Indiana’s assumed No. 1 overall draft pick Aliyah Boston as she (likely) faces a giant test in her WNBA debut going against 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones.

Sunday, June 4 – Dallas Wings vs. Sun at home

• Dallas was one of two teams to beat Connecticut in their regular season series last season and threatened to do it again in the first round of the playoffs after blowing out the Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena and forcing a decisive third game in Arlington. Both teams have hired new coaches since Connecticut knocked the Wings out of the playoffs, with Dallas hiring Latricia Trammell. And former Sun assistant Brandi Poole, who knows the Connecticut core very well after spending five seasons in Connecticut under Curt Miller, will be on the Dallas sideline as Trammell’s assistant. So this could be a good early season test for both teams, especially if Dallas is looking to take a step forward into contender status after two seasons on the playoff fringes.

Tuesday, June 6 and Thursday, June 8 – Finals rematch against the Las Vegas Aces at Mohegan Sun Arena

• The last time the Aces were in Mohegan Sun Arena, they were crowned WNBA Champions. And the Sun won’t quickly forget that they came minutes from pushing their Finals foes to a decisive game five and potentially their first championship. A two-game set in Connecticut is sure to be filled with drama and will give both teams an early test with the feeling of a playoff series. White is looking to turn a loaded Sun roster into an offensive juggernaut, a model that Aces coach Becky Hammon used to turn Vegas from perennial contenders into champions. Hammon was the second first-year coach to take their team to the Finals after White did it with the Fever in 2015.

Sunday, June 25 – First game against the Chicago Sky at Wintrust

• The Sky were the Sun’s kryptonite during the regular season in 2022, winning all four matchups. But Connecticut figured out how to beat them when it mattered most. Sky head coach James Wade likely only remembers the 18-0 run Connecticut went on in the final minutes of Game 5 of the WNBA semifinals to erase a late deficit and knock the reigning champs out of the playoffs. Chicago has many decisions to make during the offseason and could potentially look like a much different team than years past. But as long as Kahleah Copper is on the floor, the Sky will continue to be a challenge for the Sun.

Sunday, Aug. 27 – Curt Miller’s return to Mohegan Sun Arena

• The Sun will first play the Sparks on June 18 in Los Angeles, but former head coach and GM Curt Miller doesn’t make his return to Mohegan Sun Arena until the end of the season in late August. Miller coached in Uncasville for seven years before leaving for LA in October — building the Alyssa Thomas/Jonquel Jones-led core that made four straight semifinals. He’ll return to Connecticut for the first time since the Sun’s season ended in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals.

The full Connecticut Sun 2023 regular season schedule can be found here.