Phoenix, girl, you doing okay?
We are collectively staring down Game 3 of the WNBA Finals, which will take place at the PHX Arena on Wednesday, October 8, and it's safe to say that so far the Mercury have been unable to come up with two problems presented by the Las Vegas Aces that aren't named A'ja Wilson: Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray. The Aces beat the Mercury 89-86 in Game 1, and then turned around and completely destroyed the team 91-78 two days later in Game 2.
The path toward ultimate victory has become a dicey one for the Mercury, who came into the Finals with hefty expectations for themselves (and placed on them by others). The team did little to help themselves during Game 2, when Satou Sabally and DeWanna Bonner in particular struggled to land 3s (over and over again), but it's starting to look like all the 3-point shooting in the world might not be enough to take home the Championship if the team can't come up with a plan for what's proving to be the Aces' most powerful trio.
Jackie Young won Game 2 for the Aces
Young, who struggled during Game 1 of the series and committed more fouls than anything else, in particular had such a powerful game on Sunday that it was actually historic. She scored 21 of her 32 points in the third quarter alone, which was around the time it became clear that things were simply not going to go the Mercury's way. She and Wilson combined for 60 points, the second most of any duo in a Finals match (Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart still hold the record with 65 points in 2020, but just give Young and Wilson time — they're still cooking).
As if that wasn't enough, Gray also came alive and racked up a triple-double with 10 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds (oh, and 3 steals and 3 blocks just because).
The Mercury failed to recover from that third quarter, and the rest of the game proceeded with a foregone conclusion hanging over Phoenix's heads.
Though Kahleah Copper put in a strong effort with 23 points of her own, the entire Mercury has to contribute if the team hopes to come out of the Finals as the champions. At present, it's not clear that they are prepared to do so — but as the Mercury has repeatedly demonstrated all season, they perform well when everyone starts to count them out.