Down by 17 to the Las Vegas Aces going into the fourth quarter, the Mercury rallied back to tie the game in the final minutes, backed by a deafening home crowd and swelling momentum that made it feel like there was no way Las Vegas could hold on.
But the Aces remained poised. A’ja Wilson shot a turnaround jumper from just outside the paint that dropped through the net with 0.3 seconds left, lifting Las Vegas to a 90-88 win and putting the Mercury in a 0-3 hole in the first best-of-seven WNBA Finals series in WNBA history.
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The Aces now sit one win away from their third championship in four years. The Mercury, meanwhile, are searching for the same formula that fueled that fourth-quarter run, grasping for any positive takeaways from a tragic defeat.
“We’re not into moral victories,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts told media postgame. “This is a game that we wanted to get, needed to get, but for us to compete the way that we did, I think just shows the character of our team. It’s the way we fought all year.”
Threes are better than twos
From the Mercury’s perspective, this game can be summed up by what went wrong in the first three quarters and what went right in the final quarter. To simplify things even further, Phoenix’s early kryptonite was purely a math problem: its defense allowed too many wide-open 3-pointers to Las Vegas, and its offense tried forcing the ball in the paint too frequently.
Phoenix’s defense, which has now allowed 90 points per game through the first three games of the Finals, was a sticking point heading into Wednesday night. Mercury guard Kahleah Copper noted before the game that they previously struggled because they were too concerned with their individual matchups, rather than focusing on connected, team defense.
“Taking pride in your individual matchup and wanting to shut that person down and not really focus on the other things,” Copper said when asked why the defense was struggling. “It’s easy to lose sight of it as a competitor being in the Finals, wanting to take your one-on-one matchup … just getting away from that, locking in as a team and helping each other.”
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However, in Game 3, it seemed like the opposite issue occurred, and the Mercury were overcompensating for that previous lapse. Phoenix often overhelped on drivers and paint touches, leading to wide-open kickouts for Aces’ shooters. In transition, Phoenix struggled to catch up to open shooters flaring out to the corners and wings, compounding the issue.
“You got to communicate [better] out there,” Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas said. “I think in transition, that’s where they’ve been hurting us, just getting open threes. So we got to continue to be better. I think [in the] second half we put out a better effort. We held them to lower averages, but still not good enough.”
At one point in the first quarter, Aces guard Jewell Loyd connected on four consecutive 3-pointers in the span of just three minutes, pushing Las Vegas’ early lead to 21-8. Phoenix’s own 10-0 run immediately after stopped the bleeding, but it was a moment in the game that proved to be monumental by the time the final buzzer sounded.
“[It was] huge. Every minute counts.” Aces coach Becky Hammon said of Loyd’s shots. “… I know everybody looks at the stats. She knows she had four [3-pointers], but she’s doing so many other things. Just her sprinting to the corner to get space for everybody, it’s such a selfless thing.”
Oct 8, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd (24) reacts after a 3-point basket against the Phoenix Mercury in the first half during Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals at Mortgage Matchup Center. (PhotoCredit: Mark J. Rebilas | Imagn Images)
The result was that the Aces scored nine 3-pointers to the Mercury’s three through the first half of the game. Phoenix eventually caught up in that differential by making four in the second half while Las Vegas made zero, but still, that early 18-point disparity from deep ultimately proved to be too much to overcome.
“They had nine threes in the first half. Seven of them were uncontested,” Tibbetts said. “And then the second half, we made a stand and we picked it up, and it looked like a lot more of the defense that we’ve been playing all year.”
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Las Vegas’ elite guard play
Perhaps the reason why Phoenix has been so challenged on the defensive end is because of the Aces’ personnel. Las Vegas’ guard quartet of Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, Dana Evans and Loyd is something the Mercury never had to deal with previously. In their first playoff series, they only had to contend with a hobbled Sabrina Ionescu and a hot-or-cold Natasha Cloud.
Against the Minnesota Lynx, Phoenix dealt with Courtney Williams, Kayla McBride and Natisha Hiedeman, a talented group, but very different stylistically than the Aces’ group of guards. All four players tirelessly fly all over the court with the ability to playmake, shoot and hold their own defensively.
Whether it was Evans in Game 1, Young and Gray in Game 2, or Loyd in Game 3, each one of them has had a shining performance this series to complement Wilson in offensive production.
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“These are the ones that actually throw the kisses of death,” Hammon said of Loyd and Evans. “You think you’re doing a good job on [Young] and [Wilson], and all of a sudden you have this next wave.”
Las Vegas’ four-headed monster on the perimeter combined for 54 points, 16 assists, 13 rebounds and six steals Wednesday night, a stat line that’s symbolic of just how devastating their collective impact has been.
Every time the Mercury made a push, one of those guards had an answer with a timely 3-pointer, a key switch on defense or a pinpoint pass to Wilson. That versatility has set the tone for the crisp flow and balance that have made Las Vegas nearly impossible for Phoenix to slow down through three games.
Wilson’s dominance exposes Phoenix’s struggles
Of course, you can’t mention a gaudy Las Vegas stat line without mentioning Wilson’s. She finished with a game-high 34 points — her first 30-point Finals performance of her illustrious career — while also adding 14 rebounds and the clutch, game-winning shot.
However, on the other end, Wilson made the biggest impact. She was the anchor of the Aces’ defense that muddied Phoenix’s offensive production in the halfcourt for three quarters of the game. The Mercury’s identity, centered on physicality and aggressiveness and led by Thomas, has yet to fully show itself in this series.
Oct 8, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) shoots the ball over Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (25) in the second half during Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals at Mortgage Matchup Center. (Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas | Imagn Images)
Thomas was once again contained, albeit with a near triple-double — 14 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists. For the second game in a row, Wilson put Thomas in foul trouble, limiting her aggressiveness on both ends down the stretch.
That was most apparent in the Mercury’s final possession before Wilson’s game-winner, in which Thomas drove on Megan Gustafson, but let up a little, allowing her go-ahead shot to be well-contested and missed. After the game, Thomas emphasized the shortcomings in team execution.
“At the end of the day, it’s about getting each other open shots,” Thomas said. “All season long, we’ve seen different defenses, so it’s not about just one person. It’s about us playing connected, playing for each other.”
Another comeback, another heartbreak
In the fourth quarter, Phoenix chipped away at Las Vegas’ lead piece by piece, first cutting it to 10, then to single digits. Before long, it was a one-point game with just three minutes remaining. The X-Factor roared back to life, sensing yet another late-game miracle from a Mercury team that’s made comebacks its postseason trademark.
But midway through that rally, Phoenix took a gut punch. Forward Satou Sabally fell hard while chasing a loose ball, hitting her head. She lay motionless for several minutes before being helped off by teammates, the crowd booing after it was announced that there was no flagrant foul on the play.
It’s since been reported that she suffered a concussion and will miss Friday’s Game 4. Despite not playing the final four and a half minutes, Sabally still finished with 24 points, her absence looming large for a team now trying to mount a historic comeback.
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Yet in that moment of shock, the energy seemed to shift in the Mercury’s favor. The crowd got louder, and the door was open for Copper to take over. After scoring just six points in the first three quarters, she poured in 11 in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back and-one layups followed by the 3-pointer that cut the deficit to one.
“I think it gave her the opportunity to be aggressive and find her stroke,” DeWanna Bonner said. “She fueled the fourth-quarter comeback for sure. Unfortunately, [Sabally] went down, but kudos to [Copper] for stepping up.”
Bonner proceeded to knock down a 3-pointer and two free throws to tie the game with a minute to go, totaling a team-high 25 points off the bench. Still, the storybook ending never came. After rallying from behind twice in the previous series against Minnesota, this one slipped away from Phoenix in the final seconds.
“I feel like we had an opportunity to win Game 1 and tonight,” Bonner said. “Honestly, can’t ask for a better situation than to have a chance to win it at the end.”
Oct 8, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper (2) reacts after a basket against Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) in the second half during game three of the 2025 WNBA Finals at Mortgage Matchup Center. (Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas | Imagn Images)
The Mercury’s late push was too little, too late, something Thomas admitted the team has to own.
“It took us too long to wake up and play defense,” she said. “I think the second half is our basketball and how we play. So shame on us for not coming out the way that we needed to come out.”
Now, Phoenix faces elimination in Game 4 on Friday with the most improbable road to a Finals victory ahead. Although this is the first best-of-seven series in WNBA history, no team has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit in a best-of-seven series in the NBA (0-159), where the format is standard.
“I don’t know how many teams have come [back] from 0-3, not many, right?” Tibbetts said. “So I’m not going to sugarcoat that. We got a tough road ahead, but we got to take it one game at a time.”
We’re facing elimination,” Thomas added. “We’ve had plenty of opportunities to go out there and get a win. At some point, we have to take it upon ourselves.”
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