Phoenix Mercury’s blazing start fizzled just as fast when the heat turned up. They went 10-2 to start the game while limiting the Aces to 1 of 8 shooting. Mercury seemed to be in the driver’s seat for that entire first half, being up 50-45 at the break. After an evenly matched third quarter, the Mercury were still in control at 71-67. However, the wheels came off in the final as the Aces took control because of this definitive advantage. 

“Phoenix let that one get away. They had a good hold on the game for most of the game, and they just literally conceded 20 points off turnovers. It’s like they unraveled.” Alicia Jay said on the ‘We Need To Talk’ Podcast. The problem came after the Aces switched to zone defense in the second half, and the Mercury were taken by surprise. ‘

7 of the Mercury’s 14 turnovers and 10 of their 17 fouls came in the second half. The Aces don’t opt for the zone much, but they went for it to avoid the Alyssa Thomas vs Dan Evans size mismatch. It protected Evans on defense while she cut through in the offense (21 points, 3 assists), and the Mercury couldn’t break through the web.

Erica Ayala pointed to the crux of the problem as she said, “That’s where experience, not just finals experience, but experience as a team comes in handy for Vegas, something that Phoenix does not have. They don’t have that with their coach; they don’t have that with each other. You have players who have been in finals, but not all of them together. It’s DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas that we know for sure have played in these types of situations or scenarios.”

Phoenix brought the likes of Bonner, Thomas, Satou Sabally, and Kahleah Copper for just this kind of situation, relying on their multiyear playoff and finals experience to break teams down. Copper is the 2021 Finals MVP, but with the Chicago Sky. Sami Whitcomb is a two-time champion with Seattle. Like Ayala mentioned, only Thomas and Bonner played together in the 2022 finals with the Connecticut Sun.

 Meanwhile, the Aces have five returners from their back-to-back title teams, including A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray, plus the same coach in Becky Hammon. Just because Mercury added experience on an individual level does not mean they would match the Aces’ chemistry in the finals. Like Ayala further mentioned, “Execution is huge in-game. Making sure you communicate things properly and clearly.”

They have also been hampered by injuries in the 2025 season from developing that chemistry. The 4 most important players for Mercury in these finals, Alyssa Thomas, Bonner, Sabally, and Copper, have only played 112 minutes together. Their big three of Thomas, Copper, and Sabally have played 416 minutes together (regular season), which is equivalent to just 10.4 games. While they have played 209 minutes in the playoffs, that takes the total to 15.6 games, which is still not enough. It’s a fundamental problem that could cost them dearly further into the playoffs, and it’s not the only one. 

Alyssa Thomas And Co. Need Their Bench To Step Up

The bench contribution was a point of difference in Game 1. For the Aces, Dana Evans led the reserves with 21 points, and Jewell Loyd poured in 18. The 41 total bench points accounted for 46% of the team’s points. On the other hand, the Mercury only had Bonner scoring 10, and Sami Whitcomb’s knee injury scare in the third quarter meant her minutes were limited. Kathryn Westbeld went scoreless in her 5 minutes. Nate Tibbetts had 4 unused substitutes as he persisted with Whitcomb, Bonner, Copper, and Thomas in that fourth quarter.

The players who did not play haven’t had much to do for the Mercury in the playoffs; each of Lexi Held, Kitija Laksa, Kalani Brown, and Kiana Williams has played in only one game and for 5 minutes or less. Bonner and Whitcomb have been their premier punch. “Our bench has been really good too in these playoffs, right, uh, their bench outplayed ours tonight, but our bench has won us a lot of games in these playoffs.” Tibbetts said after the game.

At 19.5 bench points per game, the Mercury are the third-best playoff team in that regard, but the Aces are better at 20.9 per game. In the regular season, Mercury had the highest contributing bench with 25.5 points per game, while the Aces were down at No.8 with 20.3 points. So, this was an outlier rather than the norm. However, at the biggest stage in the finals, none of the numbers matter if they don’t show up. So, Mercury needs to play true to their strength to go toe to toe against the Aces.