Halfway through the season, the Las Vegas Aces were floundering below .500, and Becky Hammon’s coaching credentials were being questioned left and right. Fast-forward a few months, and A’ja Wilson and Co. have gone from a 53-point blowout loss to the Lynx to sitting just two wins away from their third championship under Hammon. However, it’s still an uphill battle.

That’s exactly what A’ja Wilson’s boyfriend, Bam Adebayo, thinks. In a video shared by the Miami Heat’s official X account, a reporter caught up with Bam and his Heat teammates during preseason. The NBA regular season commences in two weeks, but Bam gave time to solve the reporters’ inquiries. With the Aces having a 2-0 lead against the Phoenix Mercury, Bam gave his expert opinion.

“Job’s not done yet. We all know that. We’ve seen teams go up 2-0 and it go the other way. But they’re locked in and they know the job’s not done yet,” said Adebayo, who knows the NBA finals can turn around instantly. With Alyssa Thomas on the side, the triple-double-queen could change the game if she’s in the mood.

The Mercury had made a habit of coming from behind this postseason, as we saw against the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx. No team in WNBA history has ever returned from 2-0 down to win the Finals. Yet, this series hits distinct notes. The WNBA Finals are being played as a best-of-seven for the first time. That means A’ja Wilson and the Aces still need to win two more games to claim their third championship, keeping the door open for a Mercury comeback that could make history.

Significantly, Bam knows better than most that the job isn’t done until it’s done. The NBA has plenty of examples where a 2-0 lead wasn’t enough. The Miami Heat themselves came back from 0-2 to beat the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 Finals. Likewise, the Milwaukee Bucks did the same against the Phoenix Suns in 2021. Moreover, Adebayo was part of a Heat team in 2023 that nearly blew a 3-0 ECF Finals lead against the Celtics.

So yeah, he’s not counting anyone out. But judging by how the Aces have played so far, it’s tough to imagine them struggling to dismantle this Mercury team.

Will A’ja Wilson and co secure the win in Game 3?

After the Aces struggled against an Indiana Fever team missing stars like Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and Aari McDonald, many braced for another close series between the Mercury and the Aces. Nate Tibbetts’ team was coming off two incredible comeback wins – first against the defending champions and then the tournament favorites. So, the expectations were sky-high going into this matchup.

The Aces clearly had the Mercury’s number. Beating Las Vegas has never been easy for Phoenix. Game 1 was the third time this season the Aces had edged the Mercury by exactly three points, after regular-season wins of 84-81 and 86-83. So the Aces clearly had an advantage, which they used during the series as well.

Becky Hammon knew the key to beating the Mercury was limiting Alyssa Thomas. In Game 1, Phoenix dominated most of the first half, but Hammon changed the playbook in the second half, switching to a 2-3 zone that clogged the middle and disrupted Thomas’ rhythm. The adjustment restricted Phoenix to just 15 points on 33.3 percent shooting in the fourth quarter, helping the Aces secure the win.

In Game 2, the Mercury had no answers for A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young, who combined for 60 points and kept the Aces in complete control of the series. The pair has been the real stars for Las Vegas – they even made history by becoming the first duo in WNBA playoff history to each drop at least 30 points in a single game, doing it in their overtime Game 5 win against the Fever.

If this duo keeps playing the way they are, it’s going to be nearly impossible for the Mercury to claw back into the series, especially as they’re still struggling against the Aces’ zone defense. The series now shifts to Phoenix Arena, and while Alyssa Thomas insists “there’s still a lot of basketball left to play,” the Mercury clearly have a lot of room to improve.

Will the Mercury be able to turn the tide at home? What do you think? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!