The Las Vegas Aces did what championship teams do: they bent without breaking. After trailing for much of Friday night’s Game 1, they stormed back behind a blistering fourth-quarter surge to edge the Phoenix Mercury 89-86 and take the opener of the WNBA finals in Las Vegas.
Phoenix seemed in control for long stretches, building a nine-point cushion in the third quarter and holding a 76-70 lead with just over eight minutes left. But when Satou Sabally, who had been a steady force for the Mercury, picked up her fifth foul and angrily spiked the ball – earning a technical – the momentum shifted sharply.
Schedule
Best-of-seven series. All times Eastern.
Fri 3 Oct Game 1: Las Vegas 89, Phoenix 86
Sun 5 Oct Game 2: Phoenix at Las Vegas, 3pm (ABC)
Wed 8 Oct Game 3: Las Vegas at Phoenix, 8pm (ESPN)
Fri 10 Oct Game 4: Las Vegas at Phoenix, 8pm (ESPN)
Sun 12 Oct Game 5: Phoenix at Las Vegas, 3pm (ABC)*
Wed 15 Oct Game 6: Las Vegas at Phoenix, 8pm (ESPN)*
Fri 17 Oct Game 7: Phoenix at Las Vegas, 8pm (ESPN)*
*if necessary
Las Vegas reeled off a 17-6 run in the wake of the call, with reserve guard Dana Evans drilling the go-ahead three-pointer at 3:37 remaining and MVP A’ja Wilson following up with a short jumper to extend the margin. Wilson, who has now claimed a record four league MVP awards, finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, 12 of them coming in the decisive final stretch.
Evans matched Wilson with 21 points off the bench, sparking a second unit that outscored Phoenix’s reserves 41-16. Jewell Loyd added 18 points in her finals debut with Las Vegas, Jackie Young chipped in 10, and Chelsea Gray orchestrated the offense with 10 assists, seven rebounds and eight points.
Even so, the Aces nearly let it slip. With 24.6 seconds remaining, Phoenix trailed by one when Alyssa Thomas went to the line with a chance to put her side in front. She missed both free throws. On the ensuing possession Young calmly sank two at the stripe, giving the Aces their final three-point edge. Sabally’s contested three in the dying seconds was off target, and the Aces’ home crowd erupted.
“Dana was huge for us,” Wilson said afterwards. “We’ve talked all year about how it’s going to take everybody. Tonight it was the bench that kept us alive until we could finish it out.”
The Mercury, making their first finals appearance since 2021, had reasons to feel aggrieved at the missed opportunity. Kahleah Copper poured in 21 points, including 19 in the first half when she shot Phoenix into an early lead with five three-pointers – equaling Diana Taurasi’s record for most threes in a finals half. Sabally added 19, while Thomas came within a whisker of a triple-double with 15 points, 10 boards and nine assists.
The opener underscored how narrow the margins may be in this series, the first best-of-seven format in WNBA finals history. There were 12 lead changes, nine ties and no double-digit leads. Each time Phoenix threatened to push clear, the Aces clawed back – first when Gray drew a flagrant foul in the third quarter that momentarily turned the tide, then in the closing minutes when their stars found a second wind.
Game 2 is set for Sunday night in Las Vegas, where the Aces will look to seize a commanding 2-0 lead.
The drama on the court was preceded by a different kind of tension off it. Hours before tip-off, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert addressed reporters in her traditional “state of the league” press conference, but her remarks came under a cloud of player unrest.
Earlier this week, Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, a vice-president of the players’ union, accused Engelbert of dismissing concerns over pay and officiating, calling the league’s leadership “the worst in the world”. Collier alleged Engelbert told her that young stars should be grateful for their platform and “on their knees” over the league’s media rights deal.
Engelbert rejected those accounts but conceded the need to rebuild trust. “If the players in the W don’t feel appreciated and valued by the league, then we have to do better and I have to do better,” she said, while reiterating that she had “utmost respect” for Collier and her peers.
With the league’s collective bargaining agreement set to expire at the end of October, the timing of the rift is especially fraught. Engelbert insisted she was committed to negotiating “a transformative deal” with significant salary increases and announced the creation of a “state of the game” committee to give players a greater voice on officiating and safety – two flashpoints during the season.
Still, the backdrop of mistrust ensured that the finals’ opening night was about more than basketball. As Wilson and the Aces found a way past the Mercury, Engelbert and the league she leads faced their own test of survival, with the stakes extending well beyond this series.
