Mercury star Alyssa Thomas won’t be defined by missed free throws in WNBA Finals

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LAS VEGAS — The cruelty of greatness visited Alyssa Thomas.

The final minute in Michelob Ultra Arena was shaping into the latest clutch performance by Phoenix’s MVP finalist. Thomas drove at A’ja Wilson, the co-Defensive Player of the Year, and banked in a lefty runner to pull the Mercury within a point inside of a minute remaining. On the ensuing defensive possession, she found herself isolated against Wilson in the high post. With her trademark strength, Thomas walled off Wilson’s drive. With her lightning hands, Thomas stripped the four-time MVP, securing the steal. And with the aggression that fuels her dominance, Thomas went coast to coast, charging toward the rim, shoulder first, and drew a foul.

So she stepped to the free throw line. On the road. Game 1 of the WNBA Finals potentially in her hands. The weight of the Phoenix Mercury on her broad shoulders. The expectation of rising to the occasion in her psyche.

And Thomas missed both free throws. The first went long off the back rim. The second tauntingly circled the rim and rolled off.

Maybe fatigue caught up to her after getting only a one=minute, 59-second rest to start the second quarter. Maybe whatever was going on with her left hand was the culprit, as it clearly bothered her — and it was the same hand that stripped Wilson.

Or maybe she missed them because this game is the hardest on its best. Champions garner such high regard because of the difficulty of the journey. If Thomas finally gets a championship, of which she is worthy, she will have endured the gauntlet and have survived.

The credit for the Aces’ 89-86 win on Friday night goes to their defensive adjustments at halftime and the offensive firepower from their bench. Thomas’ missed free throws weren’t why the Mercury lost Game 1. They were jarring, however, because Thomas is usually why Phoenix wins.

In the grand scheme of a finals series, the Aces simply did what they were supposed to do. It took a fourth-quarter surge in a game Phoenix mostly controlled. So, in the WNBA’s first-ever seven-game series, the title is in no way lost for the Mercury.

But the chance to seize control of this series, and put the pressure on Las Vegas, was right there for Phoenix to take. And because even the great ones have to be reminded of their mortality, it came down to Thomas having to conquer her weakness. Shooting.

Imagine running the offense, breaking down the defense, finding teammates, punishing mismatches inside, defending Wilson, crashing the boards, amassing 15 points with 10 rebounds and nine assists, all while playing with a torn labrum in each shoulder, and still more is required. The burden of brilliance.

This fits the story of Thomas. How everything she receives is earned twice over. How her talent and brain are matched only by her resilience. Thomas didn’t take the podium to talk to reporters after the game. Phoenix coach Nate Tibbets, nor the two Mercury players who spoke, felt the need to speak on their star’s rare unclutchness.

“Nah, she good,” said Mercury guard Kahleah Copper, her stare and brevity revealing the exception she took to the idea of Thomas needing to be uplifted.

Words aren’t necessary because what’s understood doesn’t need to be explained.

She won’t be defined by two missed free throws, no matter how big. But by how she responds. After just five points and three assists in the second half on Friday, and the brutal bricks that would’ve put the Mercury one defensive stop from victory, her best is coming. Great ones don’t go out like that.

It sets up for Game 2 to be as riveting as Game 1. History is brewing, either way. The incomparable Wilson will pad her stratospheric legacy with a third championship. Or a legend will be anointed in Thomas, in a fashion befitting her aura of relentlessness.

In her way, though, is the full attention of the Aces and their championship pedigree. Thomas sufficiently broke down the Aces’ defense in the first half. In typical fashion, she lived in the paint, using pick-and-rolls to get downhill and attract the defense with her gravitational pull. Her four assists in the second quarter were all on 3-pointers. It was enough to prompt a shift in defensive strategy from Aces coach Becky Hammon: Las Vegas went to a zone.

“Just tried something different,” Hammon said, “so maybe we didn’t give up the middle so easily.”

Phoenix totaled 50 points on 52.9 percent shooting in the first half. The zone took away their rhythm.

Thomas, who’d run Wilson off high pick-and-rolls, repeatedly attacking the Aces’ smaller helpers on the backside. But with the zone in play, she wound up surrounded in the middle. The Las Vegas guards helped down, swiping at the ball.

The zone made it easier for the Aces to protect the middle and get a good contest on shooters. Keeping Thomas out of the middle robbed Phoenix of its aggressive spirit. The Mercury shot just 40.4 percent in the second half.

“This is what we’ve worked so hard to get after,” Wilson said of the Aces’ defensive intensity. “This is why, the times that we have practiced, we put ourselves in a lot of different hard situations. So we’re prepped for these moments. It is tough. AT has great basketball IQ. She could pick the game apart. She sees things before (they) even happen. So you’ve just gotta try to make it a little bit junky, and doing all that without fouling.”

Phoenix began to settle for 3s. After making 13 of their first 26 from deep, the Mercury missed nine of their last 10. Copper, who torched Las Vegas for 19 first-half points, took just four shots after halftime, only one coming in the final 10 minutes. The Mercury totaled 30 points in the paint through three quarters, then managed just four points in the paint on seven shots in the fourth quarter.

It’s on Thomas to ensure Phoenix maintains its aggressiveness. It’s up to Thomas to ensure Copper doesn’t get iced out and they continue to generate good looks. It’s up to Thomas to read when she should attack to score.

And if the game comes down to the final moments again, somewhere on the floor, Thomas will be required to make the clutch play to win, even if it’s a pair of free throws. Everything we know about Thomas declares she’s looking forward to it.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Phoenix Mercury, WNBA

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