A'ja Wilson pours in 31 as Aces complete Finals sweep of Mercury

PHOENIX — Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon did not call her Aces a dynasty after they won a third WNBA title in four seasons, but she came close. "These ladies are at the top of the game, and it is the best basketball that the WNBA has ever seen, from top to bottom," Hammon said. Aces guard Chelsea Gray was more direct. A dynasty? "Yes," she said. "Yes." League MVP A'ja Wilson scored 31 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Gray added 18 points as the Aces beat the Phoenix Mercury 97-86 in Game 4 on Friday to complete a sweep of the first-ever best-of-seven WNBA Finals. Four-time regular-season MVP Wilson made 17 of 19 free throws while locking up her second Finals MVP Award. She won her first in 2023, the second of the Aces' two straight titles. Only the Houston Comets, who won the first four league titles (1997-2000), had a better run. "These players are bigger, stronger, faster and more skilled than (the league) was 10 years ago," Hammon said. "The skill set, the level these guys are at, is not comparable." At the postgame media conference, Wilson celebrated with aquamarine goggles, a pink tambourine, a white 2025 WNBA championship towel and a tiny little burp. "I'm a Southern girl, and in the Baptist church," Wilson said, shaking the tambourine, "you knew the word was powerful. The word was powerful for us today." Jackie Young contributed 18 points and eight assists, Jewell Loyd put up 12 points and Dana Evans chipped in with 10 for the Aces, who made 12 3-pointers and committed only seven turnovers. Gray and Loyd sank four treys apiece. Mercury guard Kahleah Copper had a career playoff-high 30 points before fouling out in the final minutes. Alyssa Thomas had her 10th triple-double of the year, her second in the postseason, but Phoenix could not overcome the loss of leading scorer Satou Sabally. Sabally, averaging 19 points a game in the postseason, missed the game after being diagnosed with a concussion when she collided the Aces' Kierstan Bell late in the Mercury's 90-88 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday. "We ran into a really good team, right?" Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts said. "We ran into a team that has been through it together. We ran into a team that had the ultimate belief and trust that they could get it done. I love what we have started to build here." Thomas registered 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. DeWanna Bonner, who started in place of Sabally, logged 10 points and 10 rebounds, but the Mercury committed 18 turnovers that led to 26 Las Vegas points. The Aces finished with 25 wins in their final 28 games after absorbing a 111-58 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Aug. 2. "To be here right now, after where we were, there was a lot of doubt besides in that locker room," Gray said. "We have confidence in each other. We stayed the course and trusted the process." Wilson averaged 28.5 points and 11.8 rebounds in the series, finishing one rebound short of her fourth consecutive double-double. She had 30 points in four of her last six playoff games. The Aces won seven of the eight games played against the Mercury this season, including all four in Phoenix. Wilson did not play in the only matchup that the Aces lost, a 76-70 defeat in Las Vegas on June 15. Evans made two 3-pointers and Loyd and Gray sank one apiece in the first three minutes of the second quarter as the Aces stretched their lead to 42-23, their largest margin of the half. The Aces made 9 of 17 3-point attempts before the break, tying the Finals record for a half that they set in Game 3, en route to taking a 54-38 lead into the locker room. Las Vegas had 13 assists and one turnover at halftime while the Mercury had seven assists and nine turnovers. Behind Copper, the Mercury scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to cut a 14-point deficit to 76-70. However, a 3-pointer from Gray extended the Aces' lead to 87-75 led with five minutes left. The Mercury never got closer than eight the rest of the way. "We're never going to quit," Copper said. Tibbetts was assessed two technical fouls and ejected late in the third quarter, the ensuing free throws giving the Aces a 71-54 lead. "I think it was one of the weakest double technicals ever," Tibbetts said. "We're playing for our playoff lives. Most coaches when they get tossed, you are doing it on purpose. That was not my intention at all. But there have been issues with the officials all year." –Jack Magruder, Field Level Media

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