The Mercury suffered a tough 89-86 defeat to the Aces in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals Friday night. Debatably worse news for Phoenix was that their do-it-all superstar Alyssa Thomas was seen shaking her hand in discomfort near the end of the difficult road loss.
Thomas finished the game just one assist shy of a triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists on the night. She had an opportunity to tie the game and give Phoenix back the lead with two foul shots and less than 30 seconds left, but she unfortunately wasn't able to connect on either.
Her health moving forward in the series was a slight concern, as Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts wasn't able to provide an update on Thomas's hand when asked after the game. Thomas told the AP's Doug Feinberg that her hand was "fine" after the game. On Saturday, ESPN's Kendra Andrews reported that the Mercury star underwent an MRI on her left hand Friday night and the results came back clean. Andrews added that Thomas is clear to play in Sunday's Game 2 in Las Vegas.
In her first season with the Mercury, Thomas has led the team in points (18.1), rebounds (8.6), assists (9.1) and steals (1.8) per game over the postseason. Over the regular season, she led the WNBA in assists with 9.2 per game, in addition to 15.4 points and 8.8 rebounds each contest. The Mercury will look to even the series with the Aces Sunday before it heads to Phoenix.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Alyssa Thomas All Clear After Injury Scare Near End of WNBA Finals Game 1.
