{"id":196262,"date":"2025-10-08T01:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T01:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/196262\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T01:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T01:03:08","slug":"trailing-aces-2-0-mercury-welcome-the-wnba-finals-new-best-of-seven-format","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/196262\/","title":{"rendered":"Trailing Aces 2-0, Mercury welcome the WNBA finals\u2019 new best-of-seven format"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) and guard Chelsea Gray (12) celebrate during the first half of Game 2 of the WNBA finals against the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday in Las Vegas.John Locher\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

The Phoenix Mercury are already experienced at comebacks during this postseason, dropping the first game in each of the first two series before rallying and advancing to the WNBA Finals.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll need to climb out of an even bigger hole to win the championship.<\/p>\n

The Las Vegas Aces have a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-seven series as the Mercury prepare to host Game 3 on Wednesday. Phoenix hopes a change of scenery, complete with a raucous home-crowd advantage, can help them overcome a frustrating first two games.<\/p>\n

\u201cStarting out on the road is tough,\u201d Mercury veteran DeWanna Bonner said. \u201cThat\u2019s not an excuse, because in order to win a championship, you\u2019ve got to win on the road. But I think being home, we\u2019re more comfortable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lacked a little bit of confidence (in Vegas), so hopefully we get that back tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts doesn\u2019t bring up his NBA experience much with his players, but his familiarity with what it takes to win a seven-game series has helped him stay optimistic despite the 2-0 deficit. Tibbetts spent more than a decade as an assistant in the NBA with the Cavaliers, Blazers and Magic.<\/p>\n

This is the first time the WNBA Finals have been a best-of-seven series, expanding from the previous best-of-five format.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done a good job of resetting after wins and losses, getting back and finding ourselves,\u201d Tibbetts said. \u201cIn a seven-game series, a lot of times the home team wins the first two. Now it\u2019s our responsibility to protect our home.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Mercury are going to make this a tight series, their defence almost certainly has to improve.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally (0) shoots over Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) during the second half in Game 2 of the WNBA finals on Sunday in Las Vegas.John Locher\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

The Aces edged the Mercury 89-86 in a tight Game 1, but were much more dominant in Game 2, winning 91-78 on Sunday while controlling the entire second half. Jackie Young scored 32 points \u2014 including a record 21 in the third quarter \u2014 while A\u2019ja Wilson added 28 points and 14 rebounds.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas shot 49.3 per cent from the field and won the rebounding edge 43-34.<\/p>\n

Tibbetts said \u201cthe reason we\u2019re (in the finals) is because of our defence and to give up 89 and 91, that\u2019s just too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, they\u2019re great players \u2014 Jackie and A\u2019ja,\u201d the coach added. \u201cThey\u2019re going to score, but you just need to make it tough. We\u2019re not playing 1-on-1 or 2-on-2, we\u2019re guarding it 1 vs. 5 and we need to understand that, showing them bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phoenix has actually been the early aggressor in both finals games, taking a 50-45 halftime lead in Game 1 and a 27-24 lead after one quarter in Game 2. Both times, Las Vegas responded.<\/p>\n

Wilson said she\u2019s proud of the Aces\u2019 resiliency, but falling behind game after game isn\u2019t a recipe for success, particularly on the road. The two-time reigning MVP said defence will be crucial in making sure the Mercury don\u2019t get on an early roll.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be more important now more than ever,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cOur starts in Vegas were awful and we know we can\u2019t come in here and do that. It\u2019s a different type of feel. Defensively, we\u2019ve got to lock in.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) and guard Chelsea Gray (12) celebrate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196263,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,82,865,61,900,892,886,630,883,913],"class_list":["post-196262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-wnba","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}