Phoenix star Mercury Alyssa Thomas lowered her right shoulder and struck Napheesa Collier to support the minnesota lynx downwards closer to the hoop. An attempt was not enough for Thomas to arrive where she wanted to go, so she did it again.
Necklace caught one of Thomas’ arms to prevent him from being shot, and as the two were tangled, they stood from chest to chest. Thomas – Considered one of the best WNBA trash speakers – gave necklace an ear.
“She is the ultimate competitor. I do not know if I have already been with someone like her in my whole life,” said Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts, after her team rallied to win match 2 and even the WNBA 1-1 semi-final series against the lynx on Tuesday. “I went with a lot of players, and I have never seen anyone wanting to win as badly as it is.”
Thomas’ grain has been part of her identity since she was a child playing games such as Désit and Candy Land with her parents. Thinking about the three steps ahead was a must. Bin’s speeches were encouraged. Losing was not an option.
“We had to win our victories,” Thomas told Espn. “For me, when I obtained a victory against [my parents]that was all. “”
Now, Thomas’ relentless will to win manifests like a sinister smile on the field, a sarcastic pout when it is called to a technique or as a handgun when there is something to celebrate.
In his 12th League season, Thomas’ determination to be the best is as strong as ever. A new level of her game was unlocked as a full -time facilitator for the first time in his WNBA career, prosperous in the free flow offensive of Tibbetts which was not based on game calculations. She was a sustainable MVP candidate during the major part of her career, but now that she reaches even greater heights in her performance, she is looking to add a title to her Curriculum Vitae.
“This is what it is about,” said Thomas. “We are playing all season for the playoffs and moments like this. I want to win. I have been continuing a championship for a long time, and I think it’s our time.”
Tibbets had spent last season, his first as a WNBA chief coach, spotting Thomas when his team played Connecticut Sun. While she has always played well against the mercury – she and the sun swept the 4-0 series of the regular season – Tibbetts had not plunged in depth on the prowess of Thomas until a trade with four teams sends her and Satou Sabally in Phoenix.
“If I was honest, I probably didn’t know she was so good,” said Tibbetts. “I should have done the size of her because they just kicked every time we play them.”
Thomas did not know the game of Tibbetts either. He spent most of his professional coaching in the NBA. But during a meeting of the offseason, she quickly learned that he brought the same style to Phoenix which he implemented as an assistant of the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic.
“There are just wrinkles and different games that you may never have thought,” Thomas told Espn. “I watch the NBA game so much, and now to understand what I watch, or know the words they use, it’s exciting for me.”
Olympic gold medalist who succeeded at all levels – she led the ACC by scoring three of her four seasons in Maryland – while playing all over the world, Thomas does not have many unexploited areas of his game. But the partnership with Tibbetts and the Mercury gave him a chance to lean fully in his forces as an elite distributor.
Thomas became the first player in the history of the WNBA to record eight triple -doubles in a single season – breaking his own record. It was not far from being an average of a triple-double with 15.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 9.2 assists during the regular season. She equaled the angel of Chicago Reese with a 23 double doubles at the head of the League and recovered the record for a season for the assists (356) by Caitlin Clark (337 in 2024). All this led to a third place in the MVP vote, behind A’ja Wilson de Las Vegas – which became the first MVP of the League – and the Minnesota necklace.
“Everyone says that she brought her game to a new level, but she is playing in this way,” said Thomas teammate and partner. “I just think that recognition was different.”
Bonner also played with Thomas in Connecticut from 2020 to 2024, especially when the former Sun and current coach of Indiana Stephanie White fever in point position in 2023. The list was charged with talent, but did not have the good players for the Offense Coure Thomas on the night. But it was obvious that it could constitute a threat as an essential facilitator.
“Everything is in accordance with the modernization of our game,” said Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve. “When things go, your offense is better.”
With so many shooters around her in Phoenix (Sami Whitcomb and Kathryn Westbeld), cutters such as Kahleah Copper – who has been looking for a big facilitation since she played with Candace Parker – and Sabally’s versatility, everything clicked for Thomas and Mercury. During five games in their playoff race, she helped almost 30% of their points (107 out of 389) with 46 assists.
“This year, it was totally different with the fact that she was at the top, the way she finds us with the ball and initiates the offense,” said Bonner. “”[And] The most impressive thing is his mind. It is at a different level from other players. “”
Tibbetts turned on in his team at halftime in match 2 against Minnesota. The mercury was intimidated – Outthust, outstripped, exceeded – dragged by 16 while the lynx threatened to move away from a game to hit their ticket for the WNBA final.
The task in front of the Mercury was once a few teams have done: set up a massive return on the road to the playoffs. But Tibbetts knew they still had something to give. Players too. It would not be the first time that they had to fight in these series of the playoffs. They did it in the first round, when they eliminated the New York Liberty title champion – with a match 2 that saw Phoenix win by 26 in New York, then won match 3.
“Pride and tenacity. Grit,” said Tibbetts about what his team has shown.
These are the characteristics that Thomas shares with this group that makes her believe that it is the team with which she could finally win her first WNBA title.
“Most groups would have abandoned in a situation like this,” said Thomas. “We are a team that has gone through a lot this year. We are not abandoning ourselves. We pour out. There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to come back to this game [on Tuesday]. It’s about believing this as a team. “”
Thomas was ready for something new when she left Connecticut as a free agent. All she wanted was to be in a team where her goal was just basketball. She also looked for better facilities and resources. She had come closer to a championship – she had two appearances in the final to her credit, obtaining a victory for a title in 2019 – and she wanted to face again.
Phoenix represented an opportunity. The franchise had won three titles but had not won one since 2014. Before this season, the Mercury had not gotten out of the first round since 2021. This year, when they entered a new era – a without Diana Tuarasi and Brittney Griner – they made as many out -of -season movements as they could to build a team that could bear.
This included the acquisition of Thomas.
Phoenix has suffered injuries all the season, but Thomas has always trusted when the team has reached full force-a big three of itself, Sabally and Copper, young but tested depth and adding to mid-season to give the leadership of the veterans of the mercury out of the bench.
She looks at their return to match 2 as proof.
“Few teams can do what we have done,” said Thomas. “We overthrew a match on his head, and it talks about the season we had and how we have prepared for this moment.”
