{"id":785440,"date":"2026-05-10T00:54:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T00:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/785440\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T00:54:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T00:54:27","slug":"postgame-phoenix-mercury-stun-aces-on-ring-night-behind-brilliant-jovana-nogic-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/785440\/","title":{"rendered":"POSTGAME: Phoenix Mercury STUN Aces on Ring Night Behind BRILLIANT Jovana Nogic Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Phoenix Mercury<\/a> walked into Vegas as 9.5-point underdogs on the Las Vegas Aces\u2019 ring night\u2026 and completely stole the show. <\/p>\n

Jovana Nogic announced herself in a BIG way with a brilliant Mercury debut, Alyssa Thomas controlled the game like only she can, and Phoenix flat-out outworked the defending champs from the opening tip. <\/p>\n

The Mercury finished with 22 assists on 37 made field goals, Natasha Mack posted a double-double with a career-high 15 rebounds, and DeWanna Bonner looked right at home back in a Mercury uniform. After getting swept by Vegas last season, this felt like one hell of a statement from a Mercury team that spent the entire offseason hearing about what they lost instead of what they still had. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019re breaking down Jovana Nogic\u2019s breakout performance, Alyssa Thomas setting the tone, Mack dominating the glass, DB\u2019s impact in her return, and why Phoenix looked far more connected, and dangerous, than many expected heading into the 2026 season. <\/p>\n

Welcome to PHNX Mercury, where we make it more fun to be a Mercury fan!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

TIMESTAMPS<\/p>\n

0:00<\/a> \u2013 THUNDERSTICKS <\/p>\n

3:00<\/a> \u2013 By the Numbers <\/p>\n

6:30<\/a> \u2013 This was a statement win <\/p>\n

8:00<\/a> \u2013 Mercury scouting department BALLING OUT <\/p>\n

10:00<\/a> \u2013 Jovana Nogic debut <\/p>\n

15:00<\/a> \u2013 Natasha Mack could be Most Improved Player <\/p>\n

25:00<\/a> \u2013 DeWanna Bonner <\/p>\n

29:00<\/a> \u2013 This team has shooters and tough choices to make <\/p>\n

33:00<\/a> \u2013 Alyssa Thomas <\/p>\n

36:00<\/a> \u2013 Girl Dad challenges <\/p>\n

39:00<\/a> \u2013 SPG joins the show <\/p>\n

1:19:00<\/a> \u2013 Around the league<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Phoenix Mercury walked into Vegas as 9.5-point underdogs on the Las Vegas Aces\u2019 ring night\u2026 and completely…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":785441,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-785440","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-phoenix","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116547555664876279","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}