The Sparks gave the Sun a fight.
But it wasn't enough for Los Angeles. Connecticut scored 14 in a row towards the end of the fourth quarter and closed out Los Angeles, 69-61, in a bruising contest.
It was so intense that it could give flashbacks to the Lakers/Celtics Finals match-ups. The sold-out TD Garden crowd even chanted "Beat L.A.!" at the end of the game.
The Sparks matched the Sun (20-7), who are known for their physicality, blow by blow. But in the end, it was the veteran Sun team that came away with the knockout win.
Coach Curt Miller, who coached that Connecticut team from 2016-22, knew he had to have the team emulate that toughness.
"We didn't want to get bullied tonight, right?" Miller said. "We didn't want to back down."
Connecticut averaged 80.1 points going into Tuesday's match-up against L.A. The Sun only scored 69 but the Sparks didn't have enough juice on the offensive end to sneak away with a win. It didn't show on the scoreboard but the presence of Li Yueru (eight points, seven boards) made it tough for the Sun to score.
"I thought we, at times, were the more physical team," Miller continued. "Now we gotta go close some games. Not always easy with a young team. Not always easy when you have some moving parts and the adversity we're dealing with with injuries. But super proud. They gotta keep themselves putting in position to steal these road wins."
Miller got tossed late in the game after a no-call on the Sparks' end.
"I'm always going to fight for my players," Miller mused. "Thought some things went the other way tonight. They want me to fight for them. They saw me fight for them. It was great. We're really excited. They appreciate it. And I appreciate how hard they fought all night."
All-star Dearica Hamby talked about the difference in the game.
"We had 22 turnovers and we were still in it. But those three turnovers in the last couple of minutes really hurt us," Hamby said, who had nine points and 10 rebounds.
Those turnovers were definitely a product of the Sun's defense. The Sun themselves only had 10 so they had a few more shots on goal. It was an ugly game; both teams shot below 40 percent but this was to be expected in a game involving the Connecticut Sun.
Still, it was a historic game as more than 19,000 filled the TD Garden in Boston to watch these two teams duke it out. Coach Miller called it an "incredible crowd and environment." And the crowd watched a heck of a game.
Rickea Jackson and Azura Stevens each led the Sparks with 14 points while the Sun were led by DiJonai Carrington with 19.
The Sparks have lost their fifth in a row to go down to 6-22. Their next game will be on Friday when they take on the Washington Mystics.