Keep track of the 2025 WNBA Finals’ potential finale as the Las Vegas Aces sit one game away from yet another championship.
The Las Vegas Aces are one win from yet another jackpot.
Headlined by yet another sterling showing from newly-recrowned MVP A’ja Wilson, the Aces will secure victory in the first-ever best-of-seven WNBA Finals. If they win on Friday night in Game 4 against the Phoenix Mercury it’ll come via sweep, as the Aces can clinch yet another championship on the road, mirroring their efforts from 2022 and 2023.
Las Vegas took the commanding 3-0 series lead with a narrow 90-88 triumph in Game 3 of the series on Wednesday, the victory earned via a dramatic double from Wilson. That proved to be just enough to stave off a Phoenix comeback, as they trailed by 10 with just over four minutes remaining in regulation before a late rally led by Kahleah Copper made things very interesting.
Instead, Wilson once again stole the spotlight with a 34-point, 14-rebound double-double that allowed her to set the WNBA postseason record for most tallies in a single postseason. Jackie Young also had 21 points while Jewell Loyd added 16 and seven boards off the bench.
If Phoenix is indeed to muster a historic comeback, they’ll have to do so without the services of Satou Sabally, who endured a concussion during fourth quarter action. She left the game with 24 points, one behind DeWanna Bonner who also had 10 boards off the bench.
FINAL: Aces 97, Mercury 86 (LVA WINS series 4-0)
MVP: A’ja Wilson
Aces (97)
Points: A’ja Wilson (31)
Rebounds: A’ja Wilson (9)
Assists: Jackie Young (8)
Mercury (86)
Points: Kahleah Copper (30)
Rebounds: Alyssa Thomas (12)
Assists: Alyssa Thomas (10)
4th Quarter: Aces 97, Mercury 86
0.0—The jackpot is cashed: it ends in the desert, as Las Vegas clinches its third championship in four years, and a 4-0 sweep in the first-ever best-of-seven championship set.
7.7—Whitcomb’s three-pointer goes out of bounds, and Vegas can run out the clock
12.3—Young to the line after a Bonner foul. She hits both free throws (97-86 LVA)
20.5—Thomas secure her—and the—fourth triple-double in WNBA Finals history after Phoenix wins a jumpball when Akoa Makani and Young get tied up. The recipient is an open Bonner, who sinks two on a fastbreak. Timeout Aces (95-86 LVA)
32.0—Whitcomb’s missed three is rebounded by Bell, more or less sealing the deal for Vegas’ championship trek
40.7—Another turnover, via Thomas interception by Young, leads to free throws after a Whitcomb foul. Young hits both as a two-sided reality sets in on the floor. (95-84 LVA).
53.6—Gray misses another would-be dagger, but Loyd gets the rebound. Brown emphatically rejects her putback, which goes out of bounds. Timeout Las Vegas.
1:20—Thomas banks in a double to (temporarily) keeps Phoenix’s hopes alive (93G-84 LVA)
1:30—Wilson gets the rebound on a Gray miss, and Copper is charged with a foul, her sixth. On her way out, she is charged with a technical for arguing the call. Young hits the technical freebie while Wilson hits the two awarded on the personal (93-82 LVA)
1:37—Smith gets the rebound on Loyd’s missed dagger, leading to a Bonner foul that could’ve been a jumpball.
1:59—After a Young miss, Copper hits 30 points with another impressive reverse layup (90-82 LVA)
2:22—Thomas’ pass intended for Copper goes out of bounds for Phoenix’s 17th turnover
2:27—Gray and Wilson miss jumpers, but the Young offensive rebound in between eats clock.
3:04—Smith fouls Brown, her fourth. Brown hits one of two (90-80 LVA)
3:20—After Wilson tips away a Thomas pass to Brown (Phoenix’s 16th turnover), Gray gets herself to the foul line on a Copper foul. Timeout Phoenix before the shots. Gray hits one of two (90-79 LVA)
4:13—Fouled by Loyd, Copper goes to the line for two. She misses the first (Phoenix’s first of the night) and makes the second (89-79 LVA)
4:26—Young drives into an open-lead, double-figures re-established (89-78 LVA)
4:41—With the focus on Copper, Westbeld responds with a three of her own (87-78 LVA)
5:01—Gray once again keeps Mercury in retrograde with another three (87-75 LVA)
5:18—Drawing a foul on a drive, Akoa Makani’s three-point play on a Smith foul once again cuts it to nine (84-75 LVA)
5:55—Young then immeidately drives for two more (84-72 LVA)
6:04—After failing to get a foul call when defended by Gray and Loyd, Bonner is charged with a technical foul. Young hits the awarded single (82-72 LVA)
6:28—After Phoenix fails to capitalize on Brown’s block of Wilson, Gray puts up a three-pointer that goes through for a nine-point lead (81-72 LVA)
7:14—Another Copper double is Phoenix’s immediate response (78-72 LVA)
7:32—Stop us if you’ve heard it before, but Wilson sinks another big shot, this one from the foul line getting Vegas on the board in the fourth (78-70 LVA)
7:56—Bonner finds a wide open Brown in the lane, and the lasting Las Vegas lead is down to six. Timeout Vegas (76-70 LVA)
8:46—The ball gets to Copper in the pain and she’s able to bank one in over Evans while drawing a foul. She hits the extra, giving the 2021 Finals MVP a round-record with 25 points. Lead is down to a single digit (76-68 LVA)
9:15—Copper attempts to take Loyd’s offensive rebound coast-to-coast, but is instead called for a charge against Gray. Gray is a little shaken up but remains in the game.
9:51—Bonner breaks out with a big three to open the fourth (76-65 LVA)
3rd Quarter: Aces 76, Mercury 62
0.0—Though Phoenix is unable to get a shot off before the buzzer, Whitcomb strips Loyd of the ball before she can get another three off. Phoenix showing fight but Las Vegas is 10 minutes away from its third championship in four years.
34.1—As the teams start to exchange doubles and singles, Thomas is charged with a hard foul on Wilson, which leads to some not-so-pleasantries on each side. Wilson hits one at the foul line (76-62 LVA)
1:33—Six straight from Copper, the last two earned off a rare Wilson Turnover, allows Phoenix to keep creeping back in (71-60 LVA)
2:41—Following a foul on Akoa Makani, a double technical is assessed to Mercury coach Nate Tibbets, much to the fury of the Phoenix crowd. Tibberts got in the face of referee Gina Cross. Gray hits the awarded single and the two. (71-57 LVA)
3:01—Vegas moves to 21 points off Phoenix turnovers while Wilson gets to 24 on two more free throws (68-54 LVA)
3:12—Westbeld’s strong defense on Wilson leads to an opportunity for Phoenix, but Thomas’ offensive foul (her second overall) leads to Phoenix’s 12th turnover.
3:41—After some sloppy exchanges, another acrobatic finish from Copper draws a foul from Evans, leading to a successful and-one. Closest Phoenix has been in the period to date (66-54 LVA)
6:05—Akoa Makani responds on the other end with a three of her own (63-49 LVA)
6:23—No trip to the line necessary for Loyd, who sinks her fourth three (63-46 LVA)
6:30—Following the timeout, Copper and Akoa Makani commit quick fouls, putting Vegas in the bonus for the last six-plus minutes of the period.
6:51—Copper takes advantage of a rare Vegas turnover, going coast-to-coast for an emphatic double. It leads to an Aces timeout (60-46 LVA)
7:30—Wilson picks up her third foul by sending Brown to the line, which followed a clean block. Brown hits both. (60-44 LVA)
7:48—Wilson hits two more at the foul line, as Brown is charged with her fourth. That’s once again 20 for Wilson. (60-42 LVA)
7:54—Through a laborious shot, Thomas scores off the feed from Akoa Makani. (58-42 LVA)
8:28—Brown’s double put Phoenix on the second half scoring ledger (58-40 LVA)
8:41—The lead is up to 20 after Bonner puts Wilson at the line and she hits two (58-38 LVA)
9:11—After Bell intercepts a Thomas pass, Wilson opens scoring in the second half (56-38 LVA)
10:00—The second half is underway. Thomas is on the floor with the Mercury to begin the period. Brown is also starting in place of Mack.
Halftime Leaders
Aces (54)
Points: A’ja Wilson (14)
Assists: Jackie Young (6)
Rebounds: Jackie Young (5)
Mercury (38)
Points: Alyssa Thomas (11)
Assists: Alyssa Thomas (5)
Rebounds: DeWanna Bonner (6)
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2nd Quarter: Aces 54, Mercury 38
0.0—Copper’s buzzer-beating lay-up falls short, and Phoenix trails by 16 at the halftime horn.
9.2—After responding with a layup on the other end, Thomas is down after taking a hard screen from Loyd. She appears to be concerned about her should and is surrounded by Phoenix teammates. It’s ruled a common offensive foul against Loyd. Thomas is taken back to the locker room, flanked by Phoenix trainers. (54-38 LVA)
36.2—After Gray hits a layup and Thomas sinks two at the foul line, Young sinks Vegas’ ninth three of the half, tying the round record they set in the prior game (54-36 LVA)
1:44—Lexi Held fights back with a Phoenix three (49-34 LVA)
2:27—Young gets a rebound off a Loyd miss and gets it back to the latter, who sinks yet another three (49-31 LVA)
2:46—Bonner finishes a layup off a feed from Thomas and earn an and-one off a Wilson foul, her second. She hits the extra while Wilson stays in the game (46-31 LVA)
4:06—Phoenix reviewed a Copper offensive foul that fell through during a commercial break, but that the call was confirmed. killing off the Aces’ challenge and a timeout.
4:37—After yet another phoenix turnover, this one off a bed pass from Bonner, Thomas goes back to the line for further free throws, her first of the half. She sinks both (46-28 LVA)
5:25—Thanks to Smith’s third foul, Thomas goes to the foul line for a successful and-one, which she hits to somewhat narrow the gap (44-28 LVA)
6:52—A copper drive for two finally stems the bleeding somewhat, as the Aces had earned the advantage by scoring 11 in a row (42-25 LVA)
7:35—Out of the timeout, Evans responds with Las Vegas’ seventh three of the game on 11 attempts (42-23 LVA)
8:23—Back-to-back threes from Loyd and Gray (the latter off Phoenix’s fifth turnover) open up the game further and force the Mercury into a timeout (39-23 LVA)
9:16—Copper obtains a Gray rejection of Alyssa Thomas and gets Phoenix on the board (33-23 LVA)
9:46—Dana Evans opens second period scoring with her first three of the day (33-21 LVA)
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1st Quarter: Aces 30, Mercury 21
0.0—Wilson’s would-be buzzer beater after a Phoenix turnover (its fourth) but she nonetheless has 12 points, the most in an opening period this postseason. Vegas up by nine after 10.
21.3—Wilson intercepts a Westbeld pass and turns it into a hook-up with Loyd for two. (30-21 LVA)
54.3—Following free throws for Monique Akoa Makani, Wilson blocks a Bonner drive that bounces off her head out of bounds (28-21 LVA)
1:39—Loyd picks up where she left off in Game 3, sinking one in the corner for a new largest lead (28-19 LVA)
2:17—Wilson is a bit shaken up after a foul from Kathryn Westbeld. Aces head coach Becky Hammon is irate, but her call for an illegal closeout review goes for naught. Wilson remains in the game and hits one of her two free throws, giving her 10 for the game already (25-19 LVA)
2:40—Following Wilson’s double off a savvy feed from Jackie Young, Whitcomb hits a long-awaited three-pointer to allow Phoenix to keep pace. Wilson’s tally moves her past Candace Parker for thir all-time on the postseason scoring list. (24-19 LVA)
3:21—Copper ends the mini-Vegas run with an acrobatic double around Wilson (22-16 LVA)
3:37—Chelsea Gray hits a three, creating a new early largest lead for the Aces (22-14 LVA)
4:06—Wilson drives against Kahleah Copper and earns herself an and-one. She hits the free throw (19-14 LVA)
4:56—Following back-to-back doubles for Smith and Chelsea Gray, Kahleah Copper draws an and-one opportunity on a drive, leading to Wilson’s first foul. She’ll take the shot after a media timeout and hits it (16-14 LVA)
5:58—Brown earns a successful and-one on a Smith foul to narrow the gap. Backcourt bench threats Jewell Loyd and Sami Whitcomb enter (12-11 LVA)
6:13—Kiersten Bell sinks the first three of the game (12-8 LVA)
7:08—Amidst an exchange of doubles, Wilson hits her first field goal, moving her to fourth all-time on the WNBA playoff scoring list (9-6 LVA)
7:50—Brown commits an offensive foul, her first.
8:08—After Bonner ties the game Mack commits her second foul, this time putting Smith at the line. With interior depth severely depleted, Kalani Brown enters for her. Smith hits one of two (5-4 LVA)
9:01—The first foul of the game, committed by Natasha Mack, send A’ja Wilson to the line. She hits two.
9:14—Monique Akoa Makani responds with a double on the other end (2-2)
9:21—Smith grabs a rebound against Bonner and puts back her own miss to open scoring (2-0 LVA)
10:00—Natasha Mack wins the tip from NaLyssa Smith, and Game 4 is underway. DeWanna Bonner is in the starting five for the injured Satou Sabally
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Pregame
What: Las Vegas Aces @ Phoenix Mercury, WNBA Finals, Game 3 (LVA leads series 3-0)
Where: Mortgage Matchup Center, Phoenix, AZ
Watch: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
Who’s Favored: LVA -2.5
Starting Lineups
ACES: Kiersten Bell, Chelsea Gray, NaLyssa Smith, A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young
MERCURY: Monique Akoa Makani, DeWanna Bonner, Kahleah Copper, Natasha Mack, Alyssa Thomas
Injuries
ACES: None
MERCURY: Satou Sabally (concussion, OUT)
Referees: Gina Cross, Tim Greene, Roy Gulbeyan