Mercury get revenge on Aces with season-opening dismantling: ‘They’ve been pissed’
LAS VEGAS — It was a week of celebration in Las Vegas. The premiere of the “Never Fold” documentary commemorated the Aces’ 2025 title run, A’ja Wilson had the North American debut of her A’Two sneaker at Caesars Palace, and the team received its championship rings — two rings in one — ahead of the season opener against the Phoenix Mercury. And then the good vibes promptly came to an end.
The Mercury won the tip, scored the first basket and never looked back en route to a dominant 99-66 win over the defending champions. Las Vegas became the first team to lose on its ring night since 2018, when the Minnesota Lynx lost on a buzzer-beater to the Los Angeles Sparks, whom they beat in the WNBA Finals the year before. This was the second time in three seasons that Phoenix faced the title-winning Aces in their opener.
It was the first time, however, the Mercury were the team Las Vegas beat in the finals, and Aces coach Becky Hammon was wary of that dynamic. “If I’m Phoenix, I’m coming in with definitely an edge, and sometimes that emotion is hard to match because they’ve been pissed off for the last six months,” Hammon said pregame. It was hard to tell that the Mercury were the team that lost in a sweep last October.
Phoenix was the harder-playing, better-executing, more complete squad Saturday. Alyssa Thomas dictated the proceedings with her playmaking, tallying nine assists to go along with her 20 points in 26 minutes. Natasha Mack finished well on the inside and did just enough to deter Wilson on the other end.
The Mercury also got a boost from spot starter Jovana Nogic, who had two practices with Phoenix during training camp before being forced into the starting lineup due to an injury to Sami Whitcomb. The Serbian guard was lights out from the field, scoring 19 points while hitting 4 of 5 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Las Vegas couldn’t get into any rhythm.