The Phoenix Mercury came out firing in Game 1 of the finals. Halfway through the first quarter, they were up 15-8. The Aces caught up by the end of the quarter, and the score continued to be close until the very end. Las Vegas ended up getting an 89-86 win after tightening up on defense. One adjustment in particular stalled the Mercury’s offense and helped limit Kahleah Copper after she scored 19 points in the first half.
The Aces switched to a zone defense to keep the Mercury out of the paint. “Them getting the ball in the paint, whether it was off the pass or penetration, was really hurting us,” Becky Hammon explained after the game.
She also added, “It also allowed us to protect Dana a little bit, the zone, so that they couldn’t put her in all the actions.”
Phoenix thrives when it can put Alyssa Thomas into the pick-and-roll with a guard and force a smaller defender to switch onto her. The Aces have big guards and wings. The starting trio of Chelsea Gray, Kierstan Bell, and Jackie Young doesn’t feature a player below 5’11” and Gray is more than capable of holding her own against big, strong post players. At 5’6”, Dana Evans is the smallest player on the Aces’ roster, and that puts a target on her back when Thomas is looking for a shorter player to target.
The Aces navigated that issue well, allowing Evans to still be an asset off the bench. She finished the game with 21 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals.
The zone caused problems for Phoenix
Phoenix went into the second half leading 50-45. The third quarter was very evenly matched, but the Aces won the fourth quarter by seven points after mixing up their defense. Even the Mercury acknowledged after the game that the Aces’ switch to a zone defense made a real difference.
“They went zone,” Nate Tibbetts said in the postgame press conference. “Kind of made us stand a little bit…Give them credit for mixing up their defense. Thought it was a good adjustment. We didn’t handle it well.”
Kahleah Copper voiced the same sentiment, saying, “They went from man to zone, and then we rushed some shots.”
Seven of the Mercury’s fourteen turnovers and ten of their seventeen fouls came in the second half. More than anything, a lack of scoring from their best players hurt them, though. Copper scored only two points in the second half, and Thomas only got five points. Instead, the majority of the team’s scoring came from Satou Sabally and Monique Akoa Makani.
Phoenix will be better prepared for Game 2
This was just the first game of a long series—the first best-of-seven series in WNBA history—so Phoenix fans don’t have to hit the panic button quite yet. Game 2 is right around the corner, and the Mercury will be better prepared to play against the Aces’ zone should they opt to use it again.
For the Aces, winning Game 1 at home was important to set the tone for the series and not allow the Mercury to gain too much confidence too early.