The WNBA playoffs are months away yet Thursday night’s rematch between the Connecticut Sun and the league-leading Las Vegas Aces felt like a heavyweight fight. Figuratively and literally.

Both teams both delivered haymakers in the form of big runs. Both teams also had players lying on the floor in pain multiple times with the Aces losing two starters to injury.

The Sun hit Las Vegas with a franchise record-tying first quarter and finished it off late to come away with a 97-90 win, snapping the latter’s seven-game winning streak before 3,801 at Michelob ULTRA Arena.

“There was an intensity certainly like it was a big matchup,” Connecticut head coach Curt Miller said. “The play was high level. You look down and both teams were shooting in the upper 50-percent for a long part of the game. ...and over 40-percent from the arc. So it was really high level. There were a lot of stars on that floor tonight between both teams.”

It was the second meeting between the conference leaders in three days. The Aces won Tuesday night, 89-81.

The Sun shot 83.3 percent in the first quarter (15 of 18) and led, 37-22. The 37 points tied a franchise records for points in a quarter set against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 24, 2018.

Alyssa Thomas had 16 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals for Connecticut (7-3) while DeWanna Bonner added 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Jonquel Jones made 7 of 9 field goals for a season-high 20 points with seven rebounds and two steals before fouling out for the Sun and Courtney Williams scored 18 with six assists and four rebounds. Reserve Brionna Jones also scored five of her 10 points late in the game and added four rebounds.

Jackie Young shot 9 of 12 from the field for a game-high 26 points for Las Vegas (9-2) before having to be helped to the locker room after injuring her right ankle driving to the basket with 9 minutes, 47 seconds left in the game. She didn’t return.

Kelsey Plum made five 3-pointers for 23 points with eight assists and four rebounds, Dearica Hamby scored 15 with seven rebounds and A’ja Wilson had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Aces.

Las Vegas’ Chelsea Gray (eight points, six assists, two steals) had to leave the game with 2:39 remaining. She was guarding Connecticut’s Natisha Hiedeman tightly when the latter raised her arms to shoot, hitting Gray in the mouth while drawing a foul against the latter.

The Sun led by as much as 19 points (43-24) with 8:08 left in the first half.

The Aces weren’t fazed by the deficit. They closed the half with a 17-2 run to shred Connecticut’s lead down to 53-50.

Bonner’s technical free throw gave the Sun an 87-76 lead with 6:25 left in the game.

Hamby responded by nailing two 3-pointers in less than a minute and later added two free throws as Las Vegas cut its deficit to 87-84 with 4:54 remaining.

Brionna Jones then made two big plays on successive possessions for Connecticut. She grabbed a rebound off Bonner’s missed three, missed the layup, grabbed another rebound and laid it up while being fouled by Kia Stokes. Jones made her free throw.

Plum missed a layup on the other end. Jones converted her layup attempt seconds later to push the Sun’s lead to 92-84 with 3:57 left.

Las Vegas got as close as 92-88 after Plum made two free throws with 2:55 remaining.

Hiedeman made two free throws seconds later after being fouled by Gray.

Connecticut has no time to rest as it had to leave its hotel at 4:15 Friday morning and fly to Arizona to play a night game against the Phoenix Mercury.

The Sun conclude their four-game, six-day road trip on Sunday at the Seattle Storm.

n.griffen@theday.com