Connecticut Sun vs. Minnesota Lynx preview capsule

Sep. 16—LOCATION — Mohegan Sun Arena

Tip: 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Boston)

Probable starters: Lynx, 6-1 F Bridget Carleton (9.6 ppg), 6-4 F Alanna Smith (10.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.2 apg), 6-1 F Napheesa Collier (20.3 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 3.4 apg), 5-11 G Kayla McBride (15.1 ppg, 3.3 apg), 5-8 G Courtney Williams (11.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 5.4 apg).

Sun, 5-10 G Ty Harris (10.4 ppg, 3.0 apg), 5-11 G DiJonai Carrington (12.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg), 6-4 G DeWanna Bonner (15.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.0 apg), 6-2 F Alyssa Thomas (10.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 7.9 apg), 6-3 F Brionna Jones (14.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg).

Noteworthy: The final week of the regular season, will decided the seeds for the upcoming WNBA playoffs, with the Sun (27-11) most likely to land at the No. 3 spot. Minnesota (29-9) holds down the No. 2 position, with a two-game lead over the Sun and would have to lose both games this week and have Connecticut win both for the Sun to take over at No. 2. The current standings have New York at No. 1 (31-7), followed by Minnesota, Connecticut, Las Vegas (25-13), Seattle (24-14), Indiana (20-19) and Phoenix (18-20). The eighth and final spot is up for grabs among Washington, Chicago and Atlanta, all 13-25. If the Sun remain in the No. 3 slot, they will meet Indiana and rookie phenom Caitlin Clark, who are locked into the No. 6 position, in a best-of-three series beginning Sunday at Mohegan Sun, with Game 2 either Tuesday or Wednesday. … Connecticut is 2-0 against Minnesota this season, winning 83-82 in overtime May 3 in Connecticut and 78-73 July 4 at Minnesota. In the July 4 game, Bonner led the way with 24 points for Connecticut and Thomas had a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists. … The Sun are coming off Sunday’s 84-71 loss at Las Vegas, with Marina Mabrey leading the way off the bench with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists. Jones had 17 points for the Sun, her seventh straight game with at least 17 points. Harris had 16 points and is averaging 14.0 points over the last two games. “Just kind of going to keep working on us,” said Harris, the Sun point guard, of what the next week looks like for Connecticut. “… You want to be at your best potential going into the playoffs so this is a wakening (against Las Vegas). We can learn some lessons from this game. We have another game on Tuesday so we’ll just bounce back then.” … The Lynx are coming off an 88-79 win Sunday over New York, getting 18 points and 13 rebounds from Collier, the former UConn All-American.

— Vickie Fulkerson