The Connecticut Sun still face an uphill struggle in their battle to catch the New York Liberty for first place in the WNBA’s Eastern Conference and the No. 2 seed for next month’s playoffs.

But the Sun (23-10), who held off the Washington Mystics 68-64 on Tuesday night for their second straight victory, have a couple of things working in their favor as they prepare to face the Liberty (25-7) on Thursday night at Mohegan Sun Arena (7 p.m., NBCSB, YES).

First, they have two head-to-head meetings remaining with the Liberty and can pull within one game of New York in the loss column by sweeping, although the Liberty have won the first two regular-season meetings.

The teams will play again on Friday, Sept. 1, at the Barclays Center in New York.

Second, after coming off a brutal stretch that included six of seven games on the road (the Sun went 4-3), the schedule is much kinder to Connecticut as the regular season winds down. The Sun will play six of their final seven games at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Connecticut, New York and the defending champion Las Vegas Aces (29-4) have already secured WNBA playoff spots with the Dallas Wings (18-15) currently fourth in the overall standings.

The ageless DeWanna Bonner, despite being hampered by a back issue in recent weeks, has returned to form for the Sun. She scored 17 points during Tuesday night’s win over Washington, including a critical 3-pointer late in the game, and is averaging a team-high 17.8 points.

Alyssa Thomas, who tied former Sun great Tina Charles for the single-season franchise record with her 23rd double-double against the Mystics, is averaging 15.9 points, 10.0 rebounds and 7.9 assists while guard Tiffany Hayes has had a solid first season with the Sun, averaging 12.1 points per game.

Former UConn All-American Breanna Stewart is having a monster first season for the Liberty, averaging 22.6 points. 9.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, while Sabrina Ionescu averages 17.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists and ex-Sun center Jonquel Jones checks with with 11.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

Following Thursday’s game, the Sun return home on Sunday to face the Los Angeles Sparks and former head coach Curt Miller at 1 p.m.