NEW YORK — The Connecticut Sun has risen back to the top of the WNBA standings behind solid play from Jonquel Jones and Alyssa Thomas. The Sun received major contributions from the reserves, which scored 45 points in a rout of Atlanta on Friday night.

“When the starters always get referred to as a core group, sometimes as much as I’m trying to build chemistry, I create a little bit of starter (vs.) bench,” Sun coach Curt Miller Said said. “But they (the starters) are terrific and they really cheered them on.

“They were not happy that I put them back in the game in Indiana, they wanted the bench to finish it out. (Against Atlanta) allowing the bench to finish the whole fourth quarter and the starters not going back in, allowed them to really have fun and cheer for that second unit.”

For the Sun to remain successful, they’ll need solid contributions from the bench this season.

The victory was the Sun’s third straight, moving them into a tie for first in the standings with Las Vegas with one game remaining before the All-Star break. The WNBA All-Star Game is Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.