Sun's record comes from balance

The games keep on coming for the Connecticut Sun, the fifth in 10 days tonight at Mohegan Sun Arena. And yet amid all their flights and plights, the news gets better every day.

The Sun are by themselves atop the Eastern Conference, a half-game ahead of Chicago and two in front of Indiana, tonight's opponent. Early in the season? Sure. A modest lead? Absolutely. Glut of home games to date? Indeed.

But the two issues that plagued them at times last season - fourth-quarter execution and road woes - have been answered, at least to date. The Sun, 8-2 overall and 3-0 on the road, haven't been aesthetic all the time. But they've been efficient.

"Coach told us that's a game we wouldn't have won last year," Tina Charles said, alluding to Sunday's 75-73 win in Atlanta. Connecticut led for exactly 3.1 seconds in the game. The last 3.1 seconds.

Even Kara Lawson said: "I don't know how it happened."

The Sun turned it over 25 times and trailed by 15 points early. But they stayed close enough to make the fourth quarter relevant. Charles, who contributed the third 20-20 game of her career, made two free throws with 3.1 seconds left.

The recipe thus far: Charles' dominance, Asjha Jones' clutch shooting (two of the three road wins came in part because she's made shots in the final minute), Lawson and Montgomery's scoring and enviable scoring balance.

"That's what I hope for, that's what I like. I go back to our teams that went to the finals that had it kind of on a nightly basis. Kind of pick your poison," Sun coach Mike Thibault said. "You want to take away Tina? Anybody else can take the shot. You want to take away Asjha? Somebody else gets the shot. We're basically, for the most part, an unselfish team.

"I have always felt that the best teams can't be dominated by just two players scoring. I think that you need three or four players that on any given night can get you 15 or 18 points. We have had different people do it all season so far."

The Sun won at Indiana (5-3) earlier this season. The Fever, a perennial contender in the East, pose plenty of issues, beginning with former Sun guard Katie Douglas and Olympic forward Tamika Catchings.

m.dimauro@theday.com