WASHINGTON – Alyssa Thomas is still disrespected … it’s just that there’s no longer the capital CT at the end.
Thomas’ MVP bid is on the back burner, though. She and the Phoenix Mercury are focused on winning their remaining three games so that they put themselves in the best possible position to earn the No. 2 seed in the WNBA Playoffs.
A seeding of at least No. 4 and homecourt advantage in the first round are now clinched, with Thomas’ 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists leading them to a 75-69
win over the Washington Mystics Thursday night at CareFirst Arena.
The next goal is to earn at least the No. 3 seed to ensure avoiding the No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx in the semifinals. The coveted No. 2 seed would ensure homecourt advantage in the semifinals.
If you were at their game Thursday night, you saw why the Mercury are now dealing with these stressors. Thomas has found an even more perfect home than what she had with the Connecticut Sun, her teammates are making enough 3s to justify a high volume of attempts and the team exhibits composure under pressure.
Satou’s dagger
A 6-0 Mercury run that built a 71-62 lead with 2:52 to go seemed to put the game away, but the Mystics had other ideas.
Monique Akoa Makani started the run with a midrange make from the right elbow, answering a Kiki Iriafen make from the same spot on the other end. Then, Thomas (already with 10 points) seemed destined for her 23rd career triple-double, eighth on the season and seventh in her last 14 outings when she picked up her 10th rebound and dished her ninth assist to Kahleah Copper on a basket that made it 69-62. Thomas would pick up a steal at 3:21 and make a short bank shot at 2:52 to make it 71-62.
Neither team led by double-digits in this game, so it was a tough battle, and finally it seemed like Phoenix could relax.
But on the ensuing possession, Shakira Austin got a bit lucky when she did a full spin move on a backdown fadeaway shot and had the awkward looking attempt bank in to cut it to 71-64 at 2:26. Austin stole the ball on the next Mercury possession only for it to be stolen back by DeWanna Bonner and then stolen again by Washington’s Sonia Citron to set up a über-clutch Sug Sutton 3 from the right wing that cut it to 71-67 and had CareFirst rocking. Twenty-six seconds later, Sutton got out in transition off an Iriafen defensive rebound and drew Thomas out to the right wing, opening up a lane right down the middle for Austin to drive down and find Iriafen when Satou Sabally came over to stop the ball. Iriafen finished the off-hand lefty layup to cut it to 71-69 with 1:06 to go and CareFirst was rocking again.
The Mystics were at home and had all the momentum. But Phoenix came out of head coach Nate Tibbetts’ ensuing timeout with veteran poise, as Sami Whitcomb passed out of a double team on the right wing to Sabally, who buried a triple from the top of the key, making it 74-69 with 50 ticks remaining. Sabally, who leads the Mercury with 16.3 points per game on the season, had just 10, but added six rebounds and four assists, and was 3-for-7 (42.9 percent) from beyond the arc, a great showing considering her season-long clip is 30.9. She hit the big shot when it mattered most.
Here are Whitcomb’s postgame thoughts on the key play that resulted in the dagger:
It was just good action. We were obviously just trying to get a good look. And she slipped out of the action, they kind of kept one person in front of me, one on the side. Great, wide open shot, and she’s gonna make those more often than not.
And here’s Tibbetts on his team’s composure:
I’ve been super proud of our composure at the end of games. We’ve been in a bunch of tough games here down the stretch. And for a group like us—this is our first year together—we need these types of games. I think it builds confidence when you’re in these situations. I think (our execution today) tells you the confidence that we have in each other.
Keep on shootin’
Phoenix attempted 34 3s in this game, making 13 for an efficiency of 38.2 percent, which is very good. On the season, they attempts 27.5 treys (third in the league) at a 33.8 percent clip (seventh).
Surrounding Thomas with a bunch of sharpshooters is a good idea because she is perhaps better than anyone in the league at penetrating (either in transition or the half court) and kicking it out to the perimeter. The Mercury’s front office must have been excited about Sabally’s 45.2 percent 3-point shooting last year (on 2.5 makes per game across 15 games) when they acquired her and Thomas this offseason. She and Copper are the team’s two superstar all-around scorers who are capable 3-point shooters, while Phoenix also boasts a seasoned 3-point specialist in Whitcomb and a markswoman in Kitija Laksa, who received a lot of hype in the preseason for her 3-point exploits overseas despite never previously suiting up for a WNBA game. Meanwhile, Akoa Makani has emerged as the team’s most efficient 3-point shooter at 40 percent with 1.2 makes per game. The midseason acquisition of an aging superstar and Thomas’ fiancée in Bonner, gave the Mercury another 3-point weapon.
On Thursday, Whitcomb (4-for-7), Akoa Makani (1-for-2) and Sabally were the ones who boosted the team percentage, while Copper was 3-for-11 and Bonner was 2-for-6. Kathryn Westbeld was the only other Phoenix player to attempt a 3, going 0-for-1; Laksa did not see any action.
What stood out was the final 1:21 of the second quarter and the final 1:42 of the third. The Mercury were 3-for-3 from distance over the former and 2-for-3 over the latter. Aside from those two stretches, they were 8-for-28, worse than the magic 30 percent mark. The 3-for-3 effort to close the first half spearheaded an 11-2 run that put the team up eight. Phoenix was very much in danger of trailing at the break before that. Meanwhile, the two treys toward the end of the third aided an 8-2 run that broke a 53-53 tie and put the Mercury up 61-55 entering the final frame.
The eight-point cushion entering the third allowed Phoenix to maintain a two-possession advantage until the 5:56 mark, when Citron cut it to 48-45 with a 3. The Mercury would eventually trail 52-51 at 4:20, but that was their largest deficit of the second half. The six-point cushion entering the fourth was quickly cut to two 1:18 into the frame, but it allowed Phoenix to lead throughout the fourth.
“We’re always trying to close quarters strong, I think that’s important for us,” Whitcomb said. “It sets the tone for the next quarter and what we’re trying to do. So, yeah, those were big for us cuz it gave us a little bit of momentum and stretched the lead a little bit.”
Copper hit two of the three triples that closed the second (Sabally had the other), while Whitcomb was responsible for the two that closed the third. Thomas assisted three of the five, and contributed a hockey assist on another. The Mercury’s avalanche of 3-point attempts proved to be the right strategy thanks to these two flurries of makes.
Here’s Tibbetts on why his team took so many threes, as well as his thoughts on the key stretch before halftime:
They played more zone tonight than we’ve seen all year. Heading into the playoffs, that’s a good thing for us to see. Because of the zone, it led to some really good looks. I was super proud (of) the end of the second quarter, we made a push. It was because of our defense. It got us out and we got going.
A legacy of disrespect
I can’t speak to every game Thomas has played in this season, but on Thursday, she seemed to be hunting her own shot less than ever. Yet, she still scored 12 points thanks to fastbreaks. While she put her head down and made sure she was the one to score on a couple of occasions, she was otherwise all about working it around the perimeter to open 3-point shooters or driving to find the easiest layup for a teammate. It seemed that a huge percentage of Phoenix’s field goal attempts came off of Thomas passes, making the potential amount of assists she could have accumulated through the roof. It’s no wonder she leads the league with 9.2 per game, which is on pace to be the second-best season average in WNBA history, behind only Courtney Vandersloot’s 10 in the Wubble.
Yet, it seems to be almost a forgone conclusion that AT will not win the MVP award.
I think the race between Napheesa Collier, A’ja Wilson and Thomas should be seen as too close to call right now, yet we seem to already be handing the award to Phee, and, if not, maybe A’ja.
Thomas is so completely disrespected.
Outside of the women’s basketball community, far too many people don’t know her name. As far as the MVP, it’s hard for me to not look at this with bias (as a Terp, I root for her to win MVP, so I try not to make a pick). But my case for her would be that nobody has ever dominated in the way she has. We’ve seen players put up monster scoring and rebounding numbers like A’ja and Stewie. We’ve seen players flirt with or reach 50/40/90 like Elena Delle Donne and Phee. What Thomas does in nearly averaging a triple-double is unheard of. The distributing aspect is even more unheard of when you consider the fact that she’s a forward. She doesn’t shoot jump shots because of her torn labra. She had a good midrange game back at Maryland, but has found a way to become an even better player–and an all-time great one–without it, playing a style sans jump shot that we’ve never seen before. To me, she’s the most fascinating and entertaining player because of all this. That’s her MVP case.
But her legacy is to be disrespected. The disrespect just adds to her aura.
So go ahead. Give the MVP to Phee or A’ja because they both averaged over 23 points per game, and Thomas only averaged 15.9. Thomas will just smile and know deep down that she deserved the award because neither of them could touch what she did as a distributor.
After finishing second in MVP voting in 2023, she pointed out that she had accomplished things never seen before in the W and that would likely never be seen again unless she did it. Well, she’s done it again—this time even better. And she’ll be making a lot more history before she retires.
Here’s what Tibbetts said when asked about Thomas’ MVP candidacy:
I hope everyone takes a really good look at that. I mean she’s one assist away again from a triple-double. I don’t know how many times she’s been one away from a rebound or one away from an assist. She competes at both ends and really fights and shares it. I hope the national media just takes a good look at that.
