The Phoenix Mercury led Game 1 of the WNBA Finals for more than two-thirds of the game, but couldn’t finish what they started in their 89-86 loss to the Las Vegas Aces.
The Mercury were ahead for more than 27 minutes Friday and their biggest lead was nine points after Monique Akoa Makani hit three consecutive free throws to give them a 66-57 advantage with 3:36 left in the third quarter.
Phoenix’s last lead was 82-80 with a little less than 5 minutes left in the game.
So what went wrong?
“They made a couple plays down the stretch we didn’t,” Phoenix coach Nate Tibbets said. “That’s why this is going to be a great series, right?”
It could be, if the Mercury don’t make the same mistakes Sunday in Game 2 under the pressure of a raucous arena that had a sellout crowd of 10,266 reach peak decibels on Friday.
Phoenix committed 12 turnovers, to Las Vegas’ five, and the Aces capitalized with 20 points off the Mercury’s miscues.
Kahleah Copper finished with 21 points, but 19 of those came in the first half. The Aces’ defensive switches limited Copper’s looks to just four attempts in the second half, when she scored only two points and had one assist.
The Mercury went from shooting 52.9% (18 of 34) in the first half to 40.6% in the second half, with nearly the same amount of looks, hitting 13 of 32.
“They went zone, kind of made us stand a little bit,” Tibbetts added. “I thought we had some good looks. Give them credit for mixing up their defense; that was a good adjustment.
“We didn’t handle it well, and that was part of the reason (Copper) didn’t get as many shots in the second half.”
Tibbetts said it’s a series that could very well see games come down to the last possession, situations he feels his team has handled well, despite star Alyssa Thomas missing a pair of free throws that could have given Phoenix the lead with 24.6 seconds left in the game.
Thomas had an injury scare late in the game with her left hand but said Saturday it was fine and not an issue.
”We don't need to talk about that,” said Thomas, who had 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in Game 1.
Finally, there’s Phoenix’s defense, which held teams to 75.9 points per game on 41.1% shooting through its first seven playoff games, but allowed the Aces to score 89 points and shoot 45.8% in the series opener — both opponent highs against the Mercury in the playoffs. Las Vegas' bench also outscored Phoenix's, 41-16.
Satou Sabally, who had 19 points on Friday, remained confident in Phoenix’s resiliency.
“We have to play better defense, just go back to what we do best, and then I think the results will show that we are the better team,” Sabally said. “We’ll walk through our mistakes and find better solutions for some things, and then we’ll just come back on Sunday and win this game.”
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