WNBA: How can A’ja, Aces take a 2-0 lead in the Finals?

When posing three questions that could determine the outcome of the 2025 WNBA Finals, Josh Felton asked, “Can the Mercury make the Aces reserves unplayable?”

In Game 1, Dana Evans answered with an emphatic, “No!” In 26 minutes, the reserve guard drained 5-for-6 3s on her way to a game-high tying 21 points, helping the No. 2-seed Las Vegas Aces protect home court for the 89-86 win over the No. 4-seed Phoenix Mercury.

While another Evans explosion would be welcome, the Aces can’t count on such an efficient outburst as they strive to secure the three more wins required to raise the trophy. Fortunately, Vegas’ Game 1 win featured some replicable elements, as well as reasonable areas for improvement, that, if actualized, can take the Aces back to the title.

Those strategies will be tried and tested in Game 2, which tips off on Sunday, October 5 at 3 p.m. ET (ABC).

The Aces must maintain defensive accountability

Most encouragingly, the Aces rediscovered their defense.

As Vegas reeled off their epic end-of-season winning streak that vaulted them from .500 to the No. 2 seed, their unstoppable offense drove their dominance. However, they also improved on the other side of the court, with the team talking openly about the importance of increased accountability, something head coach Becky Hammon encouraged by having players participate in the assigning of matchups and devising of schemes.

That accountability appeared to wane in the playoffs, with Aces dropping a game to the Seattle Storm in the first round and two games to the Indiana Fever in the semifinals due to defensive performances not fit for the postseason stage.

In Game 1 of the Finals, Vegas ensured that Evans’ effort, as well as Jewell Loyd’s 18 off-the-bench points, did not go to waste by deploying a zone defense that disrupted the Mercury offense. Phoenix’s offense cooked in the first half, with an offensive rating of 125.0 leading to 50 points. The Mercury then scored just 36 points in the second half, with their offensive rating dropping to 90.0. The zone alignment, in particular, enhanced co-Defensive Player of the Year A’ja Wilson’s rim protection. Freed from her Alyssa Thomas assignment, Wilson loomed around the basket, spooking multiple Mercury players out of shots, resulting in unthreatening bailout passes back out to the perimeter.

According to ESPN, Game 1 was the most zone the Aces had played all season, with their 20 tracked possessions of zone defense, per Genius IQ, far outpacing their regular-season high of seven zone possessions, which came on July 6.

A win in Game 2 will demand more defensive creativity and flexibility from Hammon, her staff and her players. In Saturday’s practice availability, Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts expressed a readiness for the Aces’ zone, as well other defensive strategies Hammon and company might have in store, saying:

There are opportunities for us to be better against it. I’m excited that they had to go to zone this early in the series. I think their zone will evolve, I think our offense will evolve. We did some really good things before we got to the zone, and it was a great video session today how we want to attack, where the weak spots are, what they’re looking to do. We hadn’t seen zone in four to six weeks probably since we played Washington … I wish we would have handled it better. Typically, at the pro level, you make a couple of shots early, they’re going to get out of it. They got some stops and gained some confidence.

Thomas and Kahleah Copper echoed their head coach, asserting that they will be prepared to execute offensively and force Vegas to abandon their zone.

The Aces also flexed on their man-to-man defense on the game’s final possession, when Kiah Stokes, nailed to the bench the whole night, came in to play 14 seconds of lockdown defense.

While Stokes’ offensive limitations make it unlikely Hammon will call her on for long stretches of action, potentially inserting Stokes for defense-only possessions can unlock defensive lineups that give the Aces a combination of size and stoutness that can match, or exceed, the Mercury’s physicality in ways their prior playoff opponents could not.

The Aces should trust their offensive stars

Vegas also has areas where they can improve.

The team needed the 39 bench points from Evans and Loyd because they got less than expected from Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young, both of whom were temporarily sidelined for (seemingly) mild ankle and muscle issues, respectively. Although the two contributed in the floor game, with Gray dishing 10 assists and Young adding five helpers and a pair of steals, they combined to go 5-for-20 from the floor.

Gray, a two-time champion and the 2022 Finals MVP, shared her game-by-game perspective for this first-ever best-of-seven Finals in Saturday’s practice availability, emphasizing the importance of being “consistent in what you try to do,” regardless of context. Expect her, as well as Young, to be better.

And even after a Game 1 of 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocks, a steal and no turnovers, a stat line previously never achieved in the WNBA Finals, the Aces know Wilson has even higher levels. As Eric Nemchock highlighted in his preview of Game 1, Wilson was outstanding against Phoenix in three regular-season games. For a great and gritty as Thomas is defensively, Wilson introduces a rare punch of size, speed, strength, touch and composure that is too much to handle. The Mercury thus made sure to keep multiple eyes on A’ja throughout Game 1, keeping her contained as a scorer, at least compared to her sky-high standards.

In the Aces’ practice availability, Wilson indicated her trust in her and her team’s offensive process, affirming her belief that she will find the solves that surely will lead to even more stupendous compilations of stats, asserting:

A lot of it was single coverage with [Alyssa Thomas], and I felt like someone had a foot in the paint at all times. When it comes to defenses like that, you sometimes have to let the offense develop. Honestly, we could do a better job of letting our offense develop a little bit more. Yes, the first look may be there, but is that the greatest look? Is that the best look on the floor? … Phoenix does a good job of disguising things. They load it, but at the same time, it looks like it’s spaced. Now watching film, I’m going to try to see how I can pick that apart along with my teammates.

If the Aces can maintain their defensive accountability, regardless of scheme or strategy, while knowing that their stars will come through offensively, they will be leaving Las Vegas with a 2-0 series lead, halfway to a third title.

Or, maybe Dana Evans can just do it again.