Sun Hopes to Have Whalen in Game 1 of WNBA Finals

Lindsay Whalen took jump shot after jump shot Tuesday, testing her injured left knee while her Connecticut Sun teammates ran some drills at the other end of the court, preparing, if necessary, to move on without her.

Whalen helped the Sun to the best record in the WNBA and home-court advantage throughout the postseason.

But now a small fracture in the knee might keep the guard from the WNBA finals, which begin tonight with the Sun playing Sacramento.

“This is an opportunity for everybody to step up,” Sun forward Nykesha Sales said. “Lindsay’s a big part of our team, but we have some other players who are going to have to come in and fill some pretty big shoes.”

Whalen, who averaged 16.5 points and 36 minutes through the first two rounds, was injured in a collision with Indiana guard Tully Bevilaqua late in the first half of Saturday’s Eastern Conference finals game. Jen Derevjanik, a second-year player, probably would start in Whalen’s place. Derevjanik has averaged 6.5 minutes a game in the playoffs.

Connecticut won both games in the regular season against Sacramento, a team similar to it in many ways. Each swept its opponents in the first two rounds of the playoffs and has veteran leadership in Sacramento’s Yolanda Griffith and Connecticut’s Taj McWilliams-Franklin. They play unselfishly and are among the top defensive teams in the league. Griffith has averaged a team-high 16 points and 6.8 rebounds in the playoffs, and McWilliams-Franklin has averaged 17.3 points and 6.5 rebounds.