Mohegan — The Connecticut Sun need more of their players contributing offensively to start Game 2 of their WNBA semifinal series on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Sparks need more of their players contributing offensively period if they hope to avoid falling behind 2-0 in the best-of-five series.

The game is at Mohegan Sun Arena (6:30 p.m., ESPN2).

Alyssa Thomas shouldered the Connecticut offense in the first quarter of Tuesday night’s 84-75 win because some of her teammates struggled to make their shots, most of which were taken from the perimeter.

Jonquel Jones missed 4 of 5 shots that quarter. Shekinna Stricklen and Courtney Williams were both 0 for 3.

“That was a scary start, wasn’t it?,” Sun head coach Curt Miller said. “That was first game jitters. That’s rust from not playing for nearly 10 days and excitement by our team. I was excited when we finally hit the rim after the first three air balls.”

Thomas had no such troubles. She kept charging the lane against Los Angeles and scored the Sun’s first nine points. She also scored 13 of their first 15 points and finished with a team-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. She also had a game-high four steals with five assists.

“I think we were just really amped for the game,” Thomas said. “You could tell by the shots. Everything was long or going over the backboard. Being that I like to get to the rim, I just took it upon myself to really attack. I just, you know, was feeling good and things were rolling for me and my teammates just kept giving me the ball.”

Miller said, “We rode her early and she was in her downhill attacking mode and really allowed us, for the game, to settle in with that start. But once again, as scary as that offensive start was, those first three minutes, our defense kept us (in it) so it wasn’t already a 10-point deficit. We could have easily been down double figures the way we shot the ball early.”

Los Angeles shot a higher percentage than the Sun (46.9 percent to 42.3), but Connecticut had more players score in double figures. Jasmine Thomas scored 19 points, Jones 16 and Williams 15.

Candace Parker scored a game-high 24 for L.A. and Nneka Ogwumike scored 20. Sydney Wiese was the Sparks’ next highest scorer (eight points).

Ogwumike and Parker shot a combined 19 of 27 (70.4 percent), but the Sparks’ other six players shot a combined 11 of 37 (29.7 percent).

“We needed some additional scoring for sure,” Los Angeles head coach Derek Fisher said. “We have a third and fourth and fifth person that’s capable of scoring points. But you know, we couldn’t sustain it, in particular, from our backcourt. We need to figure out how to help them get more high-efficient shots over the course of the game.

“Nneka and Candace were impactful in terms of scoring and rebounding, but we for sure need some support in the backcourt. I thought Sydney Wiese was able to come off and give us some good minutes and do some good things for us. But, in terms of our shooing in the backcourt, it wasn’t there for us as much tonight.”

Chelsea Gray and Riquna Williams, Los Angeles' starting guards, shot a combined 3 of 17. Gray, one of the league’s top two point guards, averaged 14.5 points during the regular season. Williams averaged 12.3 points.

Williams was one of the biggest reasons why the Sparks beat Connecticut 84-72 on Aug. 25 to win the regular season series 2-1. She shot 7 of 12, including 5 of 8 3-pointers, for a game-high 21 points.

“(The Sun) were trapping Chelsea Gray,” Ogwumike said. “It’s not going to be easy when they’re trapping your point guard. … They were really aggressive on the ball.”

n.griffen@theday.com