The Mercury almost had the Aces. But A'ja Wilson is inevitable.
Wilson was on another level, even for her, in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals on Wednesday night in Las Vegas. She dropped 34 points, but no shot was bigger than her turnaround jumper with hands all in her face to give the Aces the lead with 0.3 seconds left on the clock.
In the league's first best-of-seven WNBA Finals, the Aces take a dominant 3-0 lead on the Mercury and move just one win away from their third title in the past four years.
Vegas was rolling early thanks to four first-quarter threes from Jewell Loyd. The Aces took a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter, but Phoenix didn't throw in the towel.
The Mercury stormed back to tie the game with just under two minutes left and kept things knotted through the final seconds before Wilson's clutch bucket served as the decider.
With the Aces playing for a title in Game 4 Friday, here are three takeaways from their thrilling Game 3 win:
Mercury's fourth-quarter comeback falls just short
The Mercury outscored the Aces by 15 points in the final frame, but they weren't able to grab their first win of the series thanks to Wilson's heroics. DeWanna Bonner was huge off the bench for Phoenix, leading the team with 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Alyssa Thomas came up one assist short of a triple-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Kahleah Copper went nuts for Phoenix in clutch time, hitting a pair of and-ones and a huge three-pointer with three minutes left to cut the Aces' lead down to one. In the end, it's a crushing loss for the Mercury in their first home game of the Finals. Remarkably, they were able to hold Las Vegas without a single three-pointer in the second half, but they allowed nine treys in the first that allowed the Aces to build a double-digit lead. The Mercury will be kicking themselves for missing eight of their 31 foul shots, which served to be crucial late compared to an efficient 23-for-25 from the line for Las Vegas. Unfortunately for Phoenix, Satou Sabally left late in the game with an injury. She dropped 24 points on the night and her health is a big question in their chances to get on the board with a win.
A'ja Wilson ... What more can we say?
The four-time MVP had 34 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in the Aces' Game 3 victory Wednesday, which she sealed with the game-winning basket. It was her fourth WNBA Finals game with at least 25 points and 10 rebounds. No other player in WNBA history has more than two. Wilson's big night comes after a 28-point, 14-rebound performance in Game 2 on Sunday.
But wait, there's more. Wilson also set the record for the most points in a single postseason in WNBA history, averaging a league-high 25.7 points per game during this playoff run entering Game 3. The list of accolades can go on, but Wilson has been a matchup nightmare for the Mercury over the Finals. She now has her team just one win away from another championship.
Another angle of A’ja Wilson’s game winner to give her 34 PTS and push the @LVAces past the Mercury 90-88 in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals presented by @youtubetv
— WNBA (@WNBA) October 9, 2025
The Aces are up 3-0 in the series! pic.twitter.com/m8xwTbXPPg
Jewell Loyd is still her
Loyd hit four threes in the first quarter, becoming the first player in WNBA Finals history to make four threes in the first frame. She joined Kahleah Copper and Diana Taurasi as the only players in league history to make four threes in any WNBA Finals quarter.
The Aces made nine shots from deep as a unit in the first half, which was the second-most in any half in WNBA Finals history per ESPN's Alexa Philippou. Las Vegas's three-point barrage helped them take a 12-point lead into the half which they never gave back. Loyd has been an x-factor off the bench for the Aces, putting up 18 points in Game 1 and 16 points Wednesday, which are her two highest-scoring games over the playoffs.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Three Takeaways From Aces' Last-Second Win Over Mercury in Game 3 of WNBA Finals.
