PHOENIX — The Phoenix Mercury aren’t hitting the panic button.
Despite being down 2-0 in the 2025 WNBA Finals, the Mercury remain confident. Following a 91-78 Game 2 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday, where Phoenix trailed by as many as 22 points, coach Nate Tibbetts reminded everyone the Mercury are all too familiar with coming from behind in the playoffs.
Advertisement
“What gives me confidence is we’ve been down before,” Tibbetts said on Sunday. “We’ve kind of always bounced back.
“Vegas did what they were supposed to do (by winning on their home court).”
The Mercury have lost Game 1 in each round of the postseason. It started with the best-of-three first-round against the New York Liberty and continued in the best-of-five semifinals against the Minnesota Lynx. Now they are in the same situation in the best-of-seven WNBA Finals against the Aces going into Game 3 at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix on Wednesday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
The Mercury’s pattern of following up a playoff loss with a win went off script on Sunday as they droped Game 2 in brutal fashion. Although “being able to fight back” has been part of the Mercury’s “identity” all postseason, as guard Kahleah Copper put it, Phoenix’s tough and gritty brand of basketball that’s got the franchise back to the Finals for the first time since 2021 was nearly nonexistent on Sunday.
Advertisement
“We haven’t been us yet,” Mercury guard Sami Whitcomb told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. “I know a lot of people are thinking, ‘They’re down 0-2, there’s no chance.’ But we’ve been in these positions before. We’ve been down before and we’ve always rose to the occasion.”
Is it time for the Mercury to be concerned with the Aces two wins from their third title in four years? Or can Phoenix reclaim its identity as the WNBA Finals shifts to Phoenix for Game 3 on Wednesday?
‘We got to get back to us.’ It starts with defense
The Mercury went back to the drawing board after suffering back-to-back loses for the first time this postseason and watched a copious amounts of film to identify what exactly went wrong.
Advertisement
“The main takeaway for us when you watch the film is … we haven’t played to the level that we played in the other series defensively. We haven’t had the same connectedness,” Whitcomb said. Copper concurred, adding, “We got to get back to us, be more connected defensively and then trust that the next person has your back.”
Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (25), shooting a layup against Aces center A’ja Wilson (22), says her team has to regain its edge.
The Mercury entered the 2025 WNBA Finals with the highest defensive rating in the postseason, holding opponents to the fewest points (75.9) and points in the paint (32) per game. But Phoenix gave up 86 points and 91 points in Game 1 and Game 2, respectively, marking the most points the Mercury have conceded all postseason.
“We lost our defense. We lost our desire to be the better team on the court, on the 50-50 balls. Like little details that does matter in such a level,” rookie guard Monique Akoa Makani said on Tuesday. “Game 1, it was there. We wanted that game. And Game 2, we kind of lost that little magic and it happens. There’s nothing to really be to panic about. It’s just about us reminding ourselves who we are and what brought us to this point.”
Advertisement
Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas admitted they lost their mental edge and “relaxed a little bit” in the championship series, although players stopped short of blaming fatigue.
“Early on (with) New York and Minnesota, we wanted those teams. We wanted to beat them,” said Thomas, who finished with 10 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in Game 2. “Now that we’re here, I feel like we’ve relaxed a little bit and it’s not the time to relax. This is what we’ve been working for all season. And yeah, we know that we’re capable of playing better.”
Can Mercury protect home court?
The Mercury are excited to return home, hoping the crowd and change of scenery can spark another comeback. Phoenix needs to not only find a way to stop A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young, they must also get their offense churning outside of their Big 3.
Advertisement
Thomas, Copper and Satou Sabally combined for 55 of the team’s 78 points in their Game 2 loss. (Sabally said her ankle feels “good” after tweaking it in the loss.) Phoenix’s bench was outscored 16-8 by the Aces’ reserves on Sunday after being outscored 41-16 in Game 1.
“We were pretty stagnant offensively and then we tried to force it a little bit ourselves,” said Tibbetts, adding that he remains “super confident” in his bench. “They’ve helped carry season long, right? Our Big 3 probably got going the most during the playoffs. … We believe in each other. We got to see the ball go in a little bit to start feeling good about ourselves.”
Nothing makes a team feel better than being at home and in its routine.
“I expect for us to continue to come out swinging, Cooper said. “That’s what we’ve done all season, especially all playoffs.”
Advertisement
Meghan L. Hall contributed to this report.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mercury look to reclaim defensive identity in Game 3 of WNBA Finals
