Chasing Third Title in Four Years, Las Vegas Aces Open WNBA Finals against Phoenix Mercury Friday
WNBA Las Vegas Aces

Chasing Third Title in Four Years, Las Vegas Aces Open WNBA Finals against Phoenix Mercury Friday

Published on October 3, 2025 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Las Vegas Aces News Release


LAS VEGAS - On a quest for a third WNBA title in four years, the Las Vegas Aces quest begins on Friday, Oct. 3, in Game 1 of the league's first best-of-seven Finals series against the Phoenix Mercury. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. (all times Pacific) at Michelob ULTRA Arena and will be broadcast on ESPN.

The Stage Is Set: The Aces pulled away from the Indiana Fever in Game 5 of the WNBA Semifinals in a thrilling 107-98 overtime victory to advance to the Finals. Las Vegas owns home court advantage in the championship round, hosting Games 1 and 2 and, if necessary, Games 5, and 7. The full Finals schedule can be found here.

While the Aces went the distance against Indiana on Tuesday, Phoenix took down No. 1 Minnesota in 4 games and has been off since closing out its Semifinals series Sunday.

Upcoming Playoff Milestones:

No. 3 Wilson (115) is 3 blocked shots away from passing Candace Parker (117) for No. 2 all-time on the league's playoff blocked shots list. Lisa Leslie leads with 132.

No. 5 Wilson (241) is 10 made free throws away from passing Lindsay Whalen (250) for the No. 4 spot on the all-time list.

No. 6 Wilson (1,057) is 21 points from passing Maya Moore (1,077) on the W's all-time playoff scoring list ; No. 13 Chelsea Gra y (850) is 18 points from passing Deanna Nolan (867) for No. 12.

No. 4 Gray (360) is 5 assists away from passing Sue Bird (364) for No. 3 on the W's all-time playoff assists list.

Becky Hammon is 1 playoff win away from breaking a tie with Brian Agler for the 6 spot with 24 playoff coaching victories. Should the Aces capture the title, she would draw even with No. 5 Michael Cooper (27).

Kiah Stokes (168) is 2 rebounds away from passing Sophia Young-Malcolm (169) to move into No. 3 on the franchise's all-time playoff rebounds list.

Upcoming WNBA Finals Milestones:

Gray is 1 game away from breaking a tie at No. 8 with Diana Taurasi, Plenette Pierson and Taj McWilliams-Franklin, who have all played 17 career Finals games, and moving into a tie at No. 6 with Jonquel Jones and Sylvia Fowles, who have played 18 Finals games.

No. 3 Gray (89) is 12 assists from passing Courtney Vandersloot (100) for the No. 2 spot on the W's all-time Finals assists list. Whalen leads the league with 129 assists.

No. 5 Gray (25) is 1 steal away from breaking a tie with Nolan for sole possession of No. 4 on the league's Finals steals list. No. 4 Rebekkah Brunson has 29 steals.

No. 10 Gray (94) is 2 field goals made from passing Nolan (95) for the No. 9 spot on the Finals field goals made list. Whalen is No. 8 with 106.

No. 11 Gray (251) is 5 points away from passing Nolan (256) at No. 10 and 6 from passing Angel McCoughtry (257) at No. 9 on the W's all-time Finals scoring list. Wilson (222) lists at No. 14, behind No. 2 Tamika Catchings and Katie Smith, who each scored 231 points in Finals games.

No. 10 Wilson (108) is 3 rebounds from passing No. 9 Cheryl Ford (110) and 5 from passing No. 8 Tamika Catchings (112) on the league's Finals rebounds list.

No. 10 Wilson (18) is 1 blocked shot from breaking a tie with Moore and Breanna Stewart and 2 from No. 19 Taurasi (19) on the Finals blocked shots list. No. 8 is Lisa Leslie with 20.

Upcoming Aces Playoff Career Milestones:

650 Points: Jackie Young (641 + 9)

500 Points: Jewell Loyd (481 + 19)

1st Point: Aaliyah Nye

500 Rebounds: Wilson (497 + 3)

200 Rebounds: Gray (192 + 8)

50 Rebounds: Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (49 + 1) and NaLyssa Smith (41 + 9)

200 Assists: Young (181 + 19)

100 Assists: Loyd (91 + 9)

250 Made Free Throws: Wilson (241 + 9)

100 Made Free Throws: Gray (99 + 1) and Loyd (99 + 1)

50 Steals: Young (45 + 5)

Aces vs. Mercury in 2025: The Aces are 3-1 against Phoenix this season, with 2 wins coming on the road and the other 2 games split at home. Las Vegas dropped the first contest, 76-70, at home on June 15 before winning the remaining 3 games - 84-81 on June 29, 86-83 on Aug. 15 and 83-61 on Aug. 21.

Las Vegas averaged 80.8 points on 43% field goal shooting, 43.8 rebounds, 18.3 assists, 6.5 steals and 4 blocks against Phoenix in the regular season, slightly below its season average of 83.6 points on 43.9% shooting, but on par with its 19.6 assists, 7.5 steals and 4.9 blocks. The Aces bench also averaged 18 points over the 4 games.

2025 WNBA M'VP Wilson missed the first matchup due to being in concussion protocol, but averaged 25 ppg on 44.2% shooting and collected 15.7 rpg against Phoenix. Young tallied 14.8 ppg, 5.3 apg and 4.5 rpg; Gray recorded 14.3 ppg, 5.5 apg and 5 rpg, while Loyd averaged 10.5 ppg.

Wilson is leading the league this postseason in scoring (26 ppg), blocks (2.8 bpg) and player efficiency (28.3), is 3 rd in rebounds (9.1 rpg) and 4 th in steals (2.6 spg). She has scored at least 25 points in 5 of the 8 playoff games, including 3 with at least 30 points, 2 of which came in Games 4 and 5 against Indiana. The Aces are 7-1 in the playoffs when Wilson scores at least 30 points and 12-1 when she scores at least 25.

After starting the season 11-4, the Mercury ended the regular season 6-4 to finish with a 27-17 record, led by 6-time All-Star Alyssa Thomas (15.4 ppg), 2-time All-WNBA selection Satou Sabally (16.3 ppg) and 2021 Finals MVP Kahleah Copper (15.6 ppg).

In playoff action, Thomas improved to 18.6 ppg, while contributing 8.4 rpg and 9.1 apg; Sabally averaged 17.9 ppg and 7.4 rpg, while Copper rounds out the Mercury's top three postseason scorers with 15.0 ppg.

Aces vs. Mercury Playoff History: The Mercury own a 9-5 record over the Aces in playoff action, but this marks the first time they'll meet in the Finals. The two teams have previously squared off in the first round in 2022, the Semifinals in 2021, the Western Conference Finals in 2007 and the Western Conference Semifinals in 2010 and 2009. Most recently in 2022, the Aces swept Phoenix in the opening round 2-0 en route to their first franchise championship.

This is Phoenix's first Finals appearance since 2021 and the Mercury last won a WNBA Championship in 2014. The Mercury has also made postseason appearances in 12 out of its last 13 seasons and are 11-9 in Finals games. The Aces, on the other hand, are Finals bound for the third time in four seasons and have made the playoffs every season under head coach Becky Hammon. Las Vegas is 6-6 as a franchise in Finals games and 6-5 in those games since moving to the Sports and Entertainment Capital of the World in 2018.

Aces vs. Mercury Playoff Comparison

TEAM PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% 3FG% FT% PITP 2 ND PTS

LVA (5-3) 87.0 28.4 20.9 8.6 5.6 .485 .392 .787 39.8 7.6

PHX (5-2) 80.3 38.0 20.9 8.1 2.3 .411 .314 .813 38.6 9.3

South Dakota Connection: Aces head coach Hammon and Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts both hail from South Dakota. Hammon was a Rapid City Stevens graduate, while Tibbetts was a graduate of Sioux Falls Roosevelt and played at the University of South Dakota. Both coaches also have NBA background, with Hammon coaching with the San Antonio Spurs from 2014-21 and Tibbetts also working as an NBA assistant coach for more than a decade. Additionally, Hammon as a prep star squared off against Nate Tibbetts' father, Fred Tibbetts, famously scoring 33 against the elder Tibbetts' team. Fred Tibbetts said at the time, "There's absolutely no way she can score 33 again," before she went and scored 41 the next time they met.

UP NEXT: Game 2 is set for Sunday, Oct. 5, at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Tipoff is slated for noon and will air on ESPN. Tickets are on sale now for Games 1 and 2, as well as Games 5 and 7 (if necessary).

Check out the Las Vegas Aces Statistics

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Women's National Basketball Association Stories from October 3, 2025


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