There’s little pity in professional sports. Teams don’t care if an opponent is missing players to injuries. They’ll gladly beat up on their depleted foe and take the win.

The Connecticut Sun lost five starters to injury before the WNBA regular season started. The defending WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury are without superstars Brittney Griner (suspension) and Diana Taurasi (sabbatical). The teams play tonight at US Airways Center (10 p.m., http://sun.wnba.com/).

The Sun have surprised everyone but themselves as they’ve won four straight games. They finished last in the Eastern Conference the last two years and over half of the team is new.

Alex Bentley has averaged 14 points and 3.4 steals for Connecticut (4-1) and Kelsey Bone has averaged 12.6 points and 5.6 rebounds. Camille Little (7.6 ppg, 5 rpg) and Alyssa Thomas (10.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and Jasmine Thomas (10.2 ppg) have also been key to the team’s start.

The Mercury razed the WNBA last season as they won both a regular-season record 29 games and their third world championship. They knew they’d be less lethal this year because Taurasi opted to take the season off after several years of playing both home and overseas, and Griner was suspended for seven games after she and then-fiancé Glory Johnson were arrested on suspicion of assault and disorderly conduct on April 23.

DeWanna Bonner (19.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and Candice Dupree (15.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg) still make Phoenix (2-2) dangerous. It has also been helped by newcomers Leilani Mitchell (12.3 ppg) and Monique Currie (10 ppg, 4.3 rpg).

— Ned Griffen