Mercury's Alyssa Thomas and the refs

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There will be a new WNBA champion.

The Phoenix Mercury eliminated the New York Liberty, 79-73, Friday night at PHX Arena.

Alyssa Thomas recorded another triple-double, her ninth of the season. The guard, who came to the Mercury in the offseason after playing 11 seasons with the Connecticut Sun, was named one of five WNBA MVP finalists earlier Friday. As Thomas stepped to the free throw line with 17.6 seconds remaining, the arena erupted in “MVP” chants. Thomas made one of two to effectively ice the game.

“We aren’t ready for this to be over,” Thomas said postgame. “We got a special group, we want to keep playing. Tonight was just about coming in here and taking this win.”

The Mercury will return to the WNBA semifinals for the first time since 2021. They will travel to Minnesota to face the No. 1 seeded Lynx on Sunday (5 p.m., ESPN) to open a best-of-five series.

“I am so happy we advanced, but we aren’t done yet,” Satou Sabally, who added a double-double for the Mercury said.

Here are the winners and losers from Game 3:

Winners

Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas: triple-double machine

Alyssa Thomas gets triple-doubles as easily as other players get points.

Thomas had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in Phoenix’s 79-73 win over the New York Liberty in Game 3. It was the 20th triple-double of her career and fifth in the playoffs. How impressive is that? In the WNBA’s nearly 30-year history, Sheryl Swoopes and Courtney Vandersloot are the only other players to record triple-doubles in the playoffs.

The triple-double also was Thomas’ ninth — yes, you read that right — of the season, extending her own single-season record.

“Is that AT’s first triple-double of the year?” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts joked postgame. “This is just what she does. She impacts the game in so many different ways. She cares about one thing, and that’s winning.

“When you’ve got a player of her caliber with that much pride to win a game and do whatever it takes, you’re going to have a great team.”

When Thomas went to the line to shoot free throws with 17.6 seconds left, the crowd at the PHX Arena serenaded her with chants of, “M-V-P! M-V-P!”

“We’re not ready for this to be over,” Thomas said after the game. “We’ve got a special group. We want to keep playing.”

New York Liberty’s medical staff

If you hadn’t been paying attention the last five days, you’d have never known Breanna Stewart was playing on a sprained MCL.

Stewart was moving like normal Friday night, running, cutting and jumping. She didn’t shy away from contact, getting or giving, and the only sign of her injury was the thick, black sleeve on her left leg.

Stewart led all players with 30 points, and was New York’s only player to score in the decisive fourth quarter. She also had nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.

“I hold myself to a really high standard. When I got hurt on Sunday, I couldn’t even walk out of this arena. I was just really struggling. I thought I really tore something in my leg,” Stewart said. “(But) if there was a slight chance I could play, I was going to be out here with my team and leave it all on the court.”

Stewart hurt her knee Sunday, at the end of New York’s overtime win in Game 1. She drove past Alyssa Thomas and made a layup before collapsing to the ground and grabbing her knee. She was able to walk off the court but was visibly limping.

Stewart did not practice Tuesday, but started and played in Game 2 on Wednesday. She was clearly limited, however, finishing with six points and two rebounds in 20 minutes. That snapped her streak of 44 consecutive playoffs games with 10 or more points.

“I just wasn’t where I wanted to be today,” Stewart said after Game 2. “And I have 48 hours to figure it out.”

She and New York’s medical staff did. It’s the only reason New York even had a chance in this game.

Satou Sabally’s big game for the Mercury

Alyssa Thomas isn’t the only one who can stuff the stat sheet.

Satou Sabally notched her first playoff double-double, finishing with 23 points and 12 rebounds. The 23 points was also a playoff career high.

“The ceiling is always high with her on the team. She gets all the triple-doubles,” Sabally said, referring to Thomas. “A double-double seems modest.”

Losers

New York’s injury woes

The only constant for the New York Liberty this year was injuries, right to the very end.

Leonie Fiebich took a knee in her side from Kahleah Copper as Copper drove to the basket just 74 seconds into Game 3. Fiebich was grimacing and holding her side as she left the court.

Though she returned at the end of the quarter, and wound up playing 28 minutes, Fiebich was clearly not herself the rest of the game. She finished with 3 points on 1-of-4 shooting.

New York began its title defense with nine consecutive wins, only to be hit by a rash of injuries. The carnage was so bad the Liberty went from the end of May until the beginning of this month never having the entire squad healthy.

“We didn’t live up to our expectations that we set for ourselves. It was hard to get any kind of rhythm” because of the injuries,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “I’ve had injuries with players before, but not quite like this year. But I’m proud of our players. We hung in there.”

Liberty’s 3-point deep freeze

Don’t be surprised if the Liberty spend the entire off-season shooting 3s.

New York’s inability to make 3-pointers cost them Game 3 against the Phoenix Mercury. They missed their last 13 3-point attempts, and finished 7-of-32 from long range. Kennedy Burke missed all six of her 3-point tries while Jonquel Jones was 0-for-5.

Referees

I know, I know. WNBA referees were bad? Must be a day that ends in `Y.’

It’s one thing to miss a call or take an hour for a review. But blowing off an expired shot clock? That’s inexcusable.

On New York’s first possession of the second half, Sabrina Ionescu missed a 3 and Jonquel Jones grabbed the rebound. But the clock above the basket was already dark, meaning the shot clock had already expired, ending the possession.

Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts, who was doing his in-game interview with ESPN at the time, screamed, “Shot clock violation!” but to no avail.

Referees allowed play to continue, and Jones dished to Ionescu, who this time knocked down the 3. The bucket pulled New York within a point of Phoenix and, on New York’s next possession, Ionescu scored on a layup to give the Liberty their first lead since early in the game.

The referees’ lapse wound up not mattering, with Phoenix winning to advance to the WNBA semifinals. That’s not the point, though. Shot clock violations should be among the easiest thing for referees to call, and they blew it.

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