{"id":199483,"date":"2025-10-09T06:24:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T06:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/199483\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T06:24:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T06:24:07","slug":"is-there-any-way-to-slow-down-aja-wilson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/199483\/","title":{"rendered":"Is There Any Way to Slow Down A\u2019ja Wilson?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2014 Becky Hammon loves a descriptive example. To motivate the Aces this season, their coach has pulled out props, stories and personalized high school highlight videos. In the hours before Game 3 of the WNBA Finals, she recounted a trust exercise that she did with her group earlier this year, blindfolding one player at a time and having their teammates guide them through a maze of eggs without letting them step on any. There is no WNBA coach who so embraces the power of metaphor.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, though, Hammon\u2019s job can only be straightforward. This is one advantage of having the best player in the league on your roster: It can make things very literal. Hammon called a timeout in a tie game with 5.0 seconds on the clock on Wednesday. The Aces were on the brink of blowing a 17-point lead. But she did not have to reach for an example or pull out a complicated explanation or even call much of a play at all. The entire huddle already knew what should come next.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive the ball to A\u2019ja and get out of the way,\u201d Hammon said. \u201cThat\u2019s all the play was.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coach later conceded that perhaps there had been a tad more to it. But not very much. And that simple description was indeed more or less what happened. The Aces got the ball to A\u2019ja Wilson<\/a>, and she drove, spun, created a bit of separation and finally released a jumper with a fraction of a second to play. The four-time MVP was shooting over the outstretched arms of first-team All-Defense<\/a> forward Alyssa Thomas. It was not remotely in the vicinity of anything that could be considered an easy look. And yet she almost made it seem that way.<\/p>\n

A’JA WILSON BEATS THE BUZZER TO WIN GAME 3 \ud83d\ude24 pic.twitter.com\/IfsWyS1Cao<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ESPN (@espn) October 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it was some crazy play,\u201d Hammon went on. \u201cShe just made a crazy shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The final score was Aces 90, Mercury 88, giving Vegas a 3\u20130 lead<\/a> in the best-of-seven Finals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that moment, if a coach has to tell me what to do, I\u2019m not doing my job,\u201d Wilson said. \u201c\u2026Those are playoff basketball moments. Those are moments that you live for.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

She has caused her fair share of them. Wilson finished Game 3 with 34 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, yet another striking line on a gaudy postseason r\u00e9sum\u00e9. It can feel as if she has broken records on every night of this playoff run. That does include some rather tortured statistical contortions: On Wednesday, for example, the WNBA touted that she became the first player ever to have back-to-back Finals games with 25 or more points and 10 or more rebounds, and she also set a record for combined steals and blocks in a single postseason with 49. But such is the nature of her game. It\u2019s so expansive that it can feel hard to properly contextualize.<\/p>\n

Yet then again, sometimes, it\u2019s simple. The Mercury knew just as well as the Aces that Hammon\u2019s game plan would involve getting the ball to Wilson. (That\u2019s a remarkable statement in and of itself: Wilson shared the floor on that possession with three of her fellow gold medalists from Team USA\u2014Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray and Jewell Loyd\u2014all capable shooters with impressive playoff records of their own. Still, no one debated that Vegas should give that final shot to anyone but Wilson.) Phoenix understood that. And while its defense could make the possession somewhat difficult for her, it could not do more than that, and it paid the price.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody expected her to get the shot,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cShe took a tough, contested shot and made it. It\u2019s just the way the ballgame goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Wilson\u2019s game-winning shot was not an easy look, but the Aces center made it seem that way. \/ Joe Rondone\/The Republic \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

It often does against Wilson. Yet this one very nearly did not. The Aces had entered the fourth quarter up by 17. They proceeded to watch that lead disappear through a disjointed, uncharacteristically sloppy final period\u2014even though hits kept piling up for Phoenix. Satou Sabally left the floor with a presumed head injury. The Mercury had multiple key players in foul trouble, including Thomas, who played the last half of the quarter with five. But they kept pushing and chipping away, fueled by an explosive burst from Kahleah Copper, who had been relatively quiet until that point. That gave them a chance to win. Yet it was not enough for Phoenix.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re facing elimination,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had plenty of opportunities to go out there and get a win. At some point, we have to take it upon ourselves\u2026 Our first half was unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mercury now face a potential sweep at home<\/a> as they find themselves down 3\u20130. Two of those three losses were decided by just one possession. Both of those games were eminently winnable for Phoenix. Yet a clear gap still feels like it has emerged between these rosters. The Aces have proven more cohesive and much stronger defensively and far better at making adjustments. And, of course, it can also be more straightforward than any of that. Sometimes, it\u2019s about the fact that the Aces have Wilson, and no one has an answer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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