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There’s a dread that lives with teams that have to defend A’ja Wilson during a playoff series.
Even when she has just an “okay” performance like she did in Game 1 of the 2025 WNBA Finals, you know she is going to turn it around. Worrying if Wilson is going to eventually have a great game would be like wondering if the sun is going to come up. It’s not a question worth asking because it’s inevitable. The only question is when it will happen.
On Sunday afternoon in Game 2, Wilson shined like the sun and her hot play scorched the Phoenix Mercury, pushing them halfway into extinction as the Las Vegas Aces took a 2-0 series lead in these best-of-seven Finals.
Wilson was, in a word that fits this month of October, horrifying.
Like the star of a horror film, Wilson didn’t appear to be a threat right away. She started the game with a turnover and followed that up by missing her first two shot attempts. Then, it began. Wilson got her first assist of the night, handing off the ball to Chelsea Gray for an open 3. Wilson followed that up by scoring her first points of the night in typical A’ja fashion. She grabbed the ball at the top of the key, drove right at Alyssa Thomas and scored over her with ease. It was like Thomas wasn’t there. Wilson was unbothered by the All-Defense player and shot over her like she was a too-small guard.
Wilson scored again on the following possession, this time over Natasha Mack. The result was the same. Mack contested, putting her hand up and then down as the ball swished through the net.
Next was a Wilson defensive rebound, followed by another made basket and suddenly, a Wilson 6-0 run had evened the score.
Despite A’ja’s dominance, the Mercury walked out of the opening quarter ahead 27-24. Sure, the MVP is great, but she can be beaten. Phoenix still had a chance of escaping T-Mobile Arena alive and with a win. That optimism felt by Mercury fans was just an indicator that the story wasn’t yet done being told.
In the second quarter, Wilson was a monster. She had six field goals in the period, more than the Mercury did in the second quarter. She scored 13 points, which also was more than Phoenix had during that same time span. It wasn’t just that she scored; it was how she did it that tilted the game in Las Vegas’ way.
At the 6:41 mark, she posted up Thomas, then turned around, played through contact and scored. Again, AT’s defensive prowess was irrelevant. She bothered Wilson as much as a fly does a lion in the desert. Wilson made her free throw, completing the three-point play and her encore featured another long 2-pointer. Once again, Thomas was the victim. Wilson hit her with a jab step, created some separation and made the midrange shot.
“A’ja Wilson is just so smooth,” ESPN announcer Ryan Ruocco exclaimed during the broadcast.
Gray scored the next basket for the Aces, and then after that, Wilson went on to score not one, not two, but four of the next five baskets for Las Vegas. When the dust settled and the quarter came to a close, the damage was done. Las Vegas was ahead 46-37 and they never looked back. Wilson ended the first half with 20 points, her most ever in a single half in a WNBA Finals game.
There are a myriad of reasons why Wilson is impossible to stop. She has elite handles for a big, is as strong as they come, is a basketball genius and a great free throw shooter.
Beyond that though, it’s how she scores that is so vexing. In a basketball world obsessed with shots at the rim and taking 3s, Wilson terrorizes the middle. She is the queen of the middie. The kind of shots she wants to take are the type defenses are taught to be happy with allowing. That’s something hard to unlearn for matchups against Wilson. The only shot Wilson can take that you’d be happy with is, funnily enough, the one worth the most, the 3-point shot. (And she shot a career-high 42.4 percent from deep in the regular season.)
However, she knows that’s not her best basket, so it’s nearly impossible to bait her into it. Wilson has no problem kicking the ball out, finding other players or forcing the situation and jamming you inside a packed paint and then towering over multiple defenders to score.
So, what’s the solution? There isn’t one.
Like an encounter with Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees, the goal is survival. If you can deny her the ball and score enough to minimize her production, that’s a win. In Game 1, the Mercury did that and lost. In Game 2, Wilson was awoken, and the result was even worse. As this series moves to Phoenix, perhaps the Mercury can find some good luck at home and flip this script.
Don’t keep your hopes up, though. We’ve seen this movie before, and it always ends the same: you fight, resist and counter, but in the end, Wilson is inevitable, and the Aces end as champions.
That’s what happened in 2022 and 2023. And 2025 is looking like the same storyline. It’s all so predictable, so known, and yet still thrilling to watch and horrifying for defenses to overcome.
