Alyssa Thomas, Mercury falter late in Game 1 loss to Aces in WNBA Finals

When the game is on the line, you get the ball into the hands of your best player. In this instance, it was Alyssa Thomas of the Phoenix Mercury on Friday.

Down 87-86 on the road in Game 1 of the 2025 WNBA Finals, the MVP finalist Thomas had two free throws to tie or take back the lead for Phoenix.

She missed both.

Instead, Phoenix was forced to foul Las Vegas’ Jackie Young, who hit her two foul shots, and the Mercury couldn’t manage to get up a clean 3-pointer to push the contest to overtime.

The Mercury lost 89-86 after either sharing the lead or possessing the lead outright for the first three quarters.

Thomas, who racked up a WNBA record eight triple-doubles in the regular season, fell one assist shy of her second this postseason. She finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

Kahleah Copper had the hot hand in the first half, a blazing 5-for-6 from beyond the arc (19 points) but was limited to only two points in the final 20 minutes.

Her five 3s matched Diana Taurasi for the most in any half of a WNBA Finals game.

KAH SETS THE PACE 🔥

Kahleah Copper’s 5 3PM in the 1H of tonight’s game tie Diana Taurasi’s record for most 3PM in ANY HALF of a WNBA Finals game!#WNBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV pic.twitter.com/u1jsTakHvJ

— WNBA (@WNBA) October 4, 2025

Copper told reporters postgame she didn’t have to encourage Thomas after missing the clutch-time free throws and that having to rebound after a Game 1 loss isn’t anything new for her squad, having lost both openers to the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx.

“Not that it doesn’t matter, but it’s OK,” Copper said. “This is a long series. I think what I take from those other first ones is the mindset is back to the drawing board. We have the utmost confidence in that locker room and in our coaches to make the adjustments.”

The WNBA regular season MVP A’ja Wilson matched Copper’s output with 21 points (7-for-16 shooting) and put a stamp on the game, with Vegas’ last field goal to push her team to its biggest lead (five) with 2:41 remaining.

Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said the final play in which Satou Sabally heaved a highly contested 3, was designed for Copper but the Aces switched and snuffed it out. He said that a timeout should have been called when the look was comprised.

Phoenix lost the turnover battle 14-7, as Thomas accounted for five, and gave up 20 points on the other end.

The Aces take a 1-0 lead in the first-ever best-of-seven championship series, with Game 2 set for Sunday at noon MST. Watch the action on ABC.

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