Connecticut Sun Coach Stephanie White Insists Team Won't Try To Avoid Clark, Fever

UNCASVILLE, CT – While the Connecticut Sun easily clinched a playoff spot prior to Thursday night's regular season finale against the Chicago Sky, their first-round opponent is still undetermined. 

The most likely scenario, overwhelmingly so, is that the Sun will face the Indiana Fever and rookie sensation Caitlin Clark in the playoffs beginning on Sunday. 

Entering Thursday, Indiana is locked into the No. 6 spot in the WNBA standings, meaning they will play the No. 3 seed in the first round. Currently, that's the Sun. 

The only way that the Sun would not finish third is if they lose on Thursday to the Sky and then the Las Vegas Aces beat the Dallas Wings. 

Connecticut Sun head coach Stephanie White said her team won't throw the final WNBA regular season game to avoid Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark in the playoffs. 

(USA Today Network/Imagn Images)

In that case, the Aces and Sun would have the same record and Las Vegas would be awarded the higher seed thanks to their head-to-head record against the Sun this season (the Aces won all three matchups). 

But the Sun enter the matchup at home against Chicago as massive favorites (-900) and thus are extremely likely to capture the third seed in the WNBA playoffs. 

Unless, of course, they don't try that hard to win the game against the Sky, since losing would give them a chance not to play Indiana in the first round. 

That's an idea that's been floated around on social media. 

OutKick asked Stephane White, the Sun's head coach, if it entered her mind at all to play for a specific first-round postseason opponent.

"I think the biggest thing that enters my mind is momentum," White responded. "There are a lot of factors outside our control, and we want to go out and control what we can control." 

When asked if she planned to rest her starters for the playoff run, White said no. 

"We're going to play them," she said. She later added, "We want to win." \

If that's the case, it looks like Sun-Fever is going to be the first round matchup. The Sun won the first three games of the series this season, but Caitlin Clark and the Fever beat Connecticut in the most recent matchup. 

Plus, the Fever are one of the hottest teams in the league thanks to Clark's comfort level rising in her first professional season. 

Should the Sun win Thursday night, Indiana and Connecticut will face off at Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday. 

That's fitting, since that's exactly how these teams opened the season. 

UPDATE: White was true to her word as the Connecticut Sun starters played their usual minutes, and they demolished the Chicago Sun, 87-54, to secure the #3 seed in the NBA playoffs.