The second win of the season ought to have felt good for the Connecticut Sun, but oh well, there is more to this story than that, including Brittney Griner’s return to the team after missing four consecutive games.

As reported by Meghal Hall on X, Griner was ruled out for the second half of the Sun’s game against the Los Angeles Sparks because of an injury she sustained to her right eye. Specifically, with around 10 seconds remaining in the first half, she took a hit to the face and suffered an eye poke. As a result, she was unable to rejoin her teammates for the remainder of the contest.

Brittney Griner finished the first half with 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block in 15 minutes of action. Fortunately, it was enough to take her past the 6,000 career points milestone, which makes her the 18th player in league history with that number of points. In fact, she was sitting at exactly 5,999 career points going into this game, and she reached the landmark with her first basket of the game, which came in the second quarter. And even though she was unable to continue with the team for the remaining half of the game, the Sun still managed to grind out a much-needed 84-81 victory over the Sparks.

Brittney Griner previously went down with an injury earlier this season after suffering a right rib injury during what was her third game of the campaign against the Portland Fire. By the way, she had already scored 16 points before exiting that game. She then went on to miss four consecutive games. The good news, however, is that she is not expected to be sidelined for nearly as long with this latest eye injury.

Since an eye poke usually comes down to passing standard medical evaluations, such as checks for scratches, irritation, or swelling, the expectation is that Griner will be evaluated on a day-to-day basis. With that in mind, she reportedly has a strong chance of being available for the Sun’s next game against the Atlanta Dream on June 2.

The victory over the Sparks improves Connecticut’s record to 2-8. Dismal, yes, but a loss would have made the situation even worse. And of course, they still sit at the very bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Hopefully, they can grind out another win, just as they did against the Sparks, when they take on the Atlanta Dream on June 2.

Sun coach Rachid Meziane is hopeful Brittney Griner returns vs. the Dream

After reaching the 6,000-point milestone, Brittney Griner is also inching closer to another major piece of WNBA history. Specifically, she is now just 17 blocks away from equaling the WNBA career blocks record of 877, which the late Margo Dydek currently holds.

Of course, she is not going to equal that record in the Connecticut Sun’s next game against the Atlanta Dream, even if she does play. Still, Sun head coach Rachid Meziane is hopeful that she will be available, especially since her latest injury does not appear to be overly serious. Speaking during the Sun-Sparks postgame press conference, which the Ballers Magazine YouTube channel shared, Meziane made that desire known:

“I don’t have any updates about her (Brittney Griner) injury now. But it looks like something not very important. So, I hope that she will be okay to play our next game against Atlanta. It’s also her last team she played with. So, I do think that she’s going to do everything to play our upcoming game.”

But away from the records and the potential reunion with her former team, the important thing is that Griner still delivered a solid performance against the Sparks, even though her time on the floor ended prematurely. As coach Rachid Meziane said, “she scored enough points tonight to record, you know, but also to help us to win the game. So, I’m a happy coach tonight.”