October 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\nThis is the first WNBA Finals to use the best-of-seven format. (No team has ever come back from trailing 3-0 in the NBA playoffs.) But enough has been revealed in this series to consider Phoenix beating Las Vegas four straight times a fantastical thought.<\/p>\n
The Mercury have now lost Games 1 and 3 in heart-breaking fashion, by a combined five points. While this teases Phoenix enough to believe in the miraculous, it also underscores the reason the task seems so insurmountable. Because no matter what the Mercury do, eventually, the height and depth of Las Vegas will prevail. That\u2019s the calling card of this Aces core. Of Wilson and Gray and guard Jackie Young. Of bench staples Kiersten Bell and Kiah Stokes. Of coach Becky Hammon and the culture she\u2019s built. In a season that saw them wrestle with mediocrity, the Aces found a way.<\/p>\n
This is what they do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re facing a team that has been through this together,\u201d Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a team that\u2019s just figuring it out. They\u2019re a well-oiled machine. All these situations, they\u2019ve been in together. They\u2019ve won together. They\u2019ve lost together. As hard as it is, that stuff matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
After losing in the second round to eventual champion New York last season, the Aces underwent a bit of a remodel. They lost Alysha Clark, Tiffany Hayes and Sydney Colson, all critical in their own right. Las Vegas traded Kelsey Plum to Los Angeles for Seattle All-Star Jewell Loyd, reputed as one of the league\u2019s best players for years.<\/p>\n
Loyd \u2014 a three-time All-WNBA guard and two-time WNBA champ with the Storm \u2014 accentuates the ethos of the Aces perfectly. She\u2019s highly skilled, versatile in impact, selfless in demeanor, and invests in winning earnestly.<\/p>\n
Wednesday, she made four 3-pointers in the first quarter. In doing so, Loyd alerted the Mercury\u2019s fervent crowd, known for rattling opponents, its mojo wouldn\u2019t work on this foe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a front-row seat to a sweep in the bubble (against) Jewell with gold Kobes on,\u201d Wilson said of Las Vegas\u2019 2020 loss to the Seattle in the finals. \u201cI\u2019m glad she\u2019s got on A\u2019Ones now, though. To be able to play alongside Jewell and to see her work, it\u2019s truly magical what she does. Her footwork. Her work ethic. \u2026 Sometimes my jaw is dropped because I\u2019m like, \u2018That\u2019s that damn Jewell Loyd.\u2019 Her record in the finals, it shows the work that she\u2019s put in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loyd is now 9-0 in WNBA Finals games. The reputation that followed her to Las Vegas shined in these finals. Her defense and shot-making have been clutch for Las Vegas. She represents the Aces\u2019 embarrassment of riches, central to the overwhelming of Phoenix. The Mercury dethroned the defending champion Liberty and knocked off the top-seeded Lynx. But in these finals, the Mercury have mostly looked undermanned.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve been game, though. Wednesday\u2019s fourth quarter was a manifestation of their Cinderella story. The trademark desperation kicked in for Phoenix, trailing by as much as 17 to start the final period.<\/p>\n
The home team\u2019s deficit was down to 10 points inside of five minutes remaining. Satou Sabally \u2014 the hot hand for Phoenix most of the night with 24 points \u2014 went down with an apparent injury after crashing head-first into the knee of Bell. It was a scary collision in Mortgage Matchup Center as Sabally was down for several minutes before being helped to the locker room.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Copper took over. She scored 11 straight points for Phoenix, sending the arena into a frenzy. She capped the run with a pull-up 3 from the left wing that cut the Aces\u2019 lead to 84-83 with 3:06 remaining. It was a jaw-dropping individual display. A special stretch that gave Phoenix a shot to win and change the tenor of this series.<\/p>\n
But to pull it off, the Mercury would have to take something that didn\u2019t belong to them. This stage, this era, has already been claimed by the brilliance of Wilson, the greatness of the Aces, and their embrace of what success demands. It\u2019s in their DNA now. It\u2019s infused up and down the rosters. In their aura.<\/p>\n
With the score tied at 88, inside a minute remaining, the Aces put the ball in Jackie Young\u2019s hands. They wanted her in the pick-and-roll, a high-percentage option, though Young didn\u2019t have her most efficient night with 21 points on 18 shots. Las Vegas got the matchup it wanted, Young on Mercury guard Sami Whitcomb. But Young couldn\u2019t turn the corner and found herself stuck without a dribble on the right wing.<\/p>\n
Wilson bailed her out with a perfect back-door cut and had a wide-open lane to the basket. But she dropped the pass. Wilson was born with adhesive in her palms. She doesn\u2019t drop passes. But somehow, she fumbled the ball out of bounds.<\/p>\n
The screen door was open for Phoenix. With 30 seconds remaining, Alyssa Thomas got the ball and the look the Mercury wanted. Tibbetts opted against calling a timeout so his offense could again attack Megan Gustafson, the 6-foot-4 veteran center not known for lateral movement. And Thomas wound up with only Gustafson between her and a Mercury lead.<\/p>\n
The talk on the Vegas side of these series has been about their \u201cblind trust\u201d in each other, developed through bonding activities. Like walking blindfolded through an egg-filled maze. And watching the Netflix show \u201cThunderbirds\u201d for the lessons of unity from the premier Air Force pilots.<\/p>\n
How is this for blind trust? Young stayed glued to Copper. Wilson stayed out past the 3-point line on Bonner, who finished with 25 points. And the Aces trusted Gustafson to hold Thomas, one of the best players in the league. Gustafson moved her feet, absorbed the bump from Thomas and kept her arms vertical. Thomas\u2019 shot wound up harmless. The player the Mercury decided to pick on came up with the stop for the Aces.<\/p>\n
That set up the final sequence. A gem of a moment for an already bedazzled crown.<\/p>\n
Wilson, whose earlier turnover haunted her psyche, got a reprieve. The play called for Wilson to get the ball and go to work. The Aces\u2019 legacy in her hands. The doorstep of a dynasty within her reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re winning this game,\u201d Loyd said was the message as they emerged from the bench. \u201cWe are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilson got the ball, drove left, spun back right and launched a seven-foot turnaround jumper into history. It bounced in. Of course it did. Because she\u2019s A\u2019ja. And they are the Aces.<\/p>\n
This is what they do.<\/p>\n