The Las Vegas Aces came ready to play in these WNBA Finals. The Phoenix Mercury, well, they’re a different story.
For some inexplicable reason, the Mercury were lifeless through the first three quarters of Game 3 on Wednesday night. This despite being down 0-2 in the best-of-seven series and playing their first game at home.
Jewell Loyd and Dana Evans were hitting 3s in the first half like they were playing Pop-a-Shot, Jackie Young was hot and A’ja Wilson was doing A’ja Wilson things. A game the Mercury absolutely needed to win, and they were down 17 at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Mercury did claw their way back into the game, only to have Wilson hit a fadeaway jumper with less than a second left to secure a 90-88 victory that put Phoenix on life support.
A scenario that might look different had Phoenix shown the fire in the first quarter they had in the fourth.
“It took us too long to wake up and play defense,” Alyssa Thomas said afterward. “Shame on us for not coming out the way we needed to come out.”
Said DeWanna Bonner, “Our defensive effort in the first half was unacceptable. Jewell came in and got them going with what, four straight 3s? They got their hands on a lot of loose balls that led to a lot of 3s. Our defense was unacceptable in the first half. I don’t know why we came out like that, especially already down 0-2.”
The Aces are a veteran group, as Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts likes to point out. If (when) they close out the series, it will be their third title in four years, and Wilson, Young and Chelsea Gray and coach Becky Hammon have been around for all of them.
The Mercury, on the other hand, are a completely new team, just two players left from last year’s roster. But it’s not as if they were thrown into the Finals the second week of the season. The Mercury have had the entire season to develop their chemistry and identity, and they, too, are battle-tested after having to rally in their first two playoff series.
And while this is this Phoenix team’s first trip to the Finals, Kahleah Copper (Chicago Sky in 2021) and Bonner (Phoenix in 2009 and 2014) both have rings while Thomas went to the Finals in 2019 and 2022 with Connecticut.
Yet they have let the Aces take the series to them, rather than playing as if they’re on equal footing.
Phoenix let Game 1 slip away, getting outscored 9-4 over the last five minutes of the game and 22-15 in the fourth quarter overall. It got routed in Game 2, unable to capitalize on an early lead.
In Game 3, the Mercury often looked as if they were standing still in the first half, practice dummies for the Aces. Not until Satou Sabally suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter did Phoenix snap out of its doldrums.
When the Mercury finally did, it gave a glimpse of what this series could have been. Should have been.
The Mercury went on an 11-2 run after Sabally’s injury, with Copper scoring all of Phoenix’s points. When Bonner hit a 3 with 1:40 to play, Las Vegas’ big lead was gone.
“I wish I had an answer for that,” Tibbetts said when asked what the difference was. “Confidence. Competitive spirit. Shot making. All those things matter. Belief.”
Had the Mercury been able to pull off a comeback in Game 3, they would have the momentum in the best-of-seven series. But now, one game from elimination and Sabally unable to play Friday night, there’s an air of inevitability to these Finals.
“I don’t know how many teams have come back from 0-3. Not many,” Tibbetts acknowledged. “I’m not going to sugarcoat that. We’ve got a tough road ahead. But we’ve got to take it one game at a time.”
The Aces are a special team, and this next title will put them alongside the Houston Comets in WNBA dynasties. But the Mercury won’t lose these Finals so much as they’ll have given them away.
‘Not many people get this chance to play in the Finals. You can’t let a moment like this pass you by,’ Thomas said. ‘It’s disappointing that we’re down 3-0. It’s disappointing that we didn’t come out to play in the first half. Now we’re facing elimination. You’ve got to give everything you have or it’s over.’
It already is, and the Mercury have no one to blame but themselves.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.