What a game it was! A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray made an unstoppable trio. Their experience and connectedness showed as the Aces took control of the game with a 22–10 second-quarter advantage. With that, they buried the Mercury with a 30-point follow-up quarter. By the end of the game, the trio combined for 70 of the team’s total 91 points. All this was enough to give the Aces a 2–0 lead, but Wilson isn’t satisfied just yet!

Despite dominating Game 2 with a 28-point, 14-rebound double-double and watching Jackie explode for a Finals career-high 32 points, Wilson’s message was simple yet powerful. “We gotta make sure that we can just stay solid in what we do in our system. And you’re just playing on the human emotions as well. We can’t get to our highs, can’t get to lower our lows. And we just gotta play defense. We gotta buckle in and get ready to just weather storms,” shared A’ja Wilson.

Well, the team’s done this throughout the season. They had a rough start but slowly found their rhythm. By the end of the regular season, they went on a strong 16-game run to book their berth in the playoffs. So when Wilson shared, “But we can’t stop here, we can’t be satisfied,” it was spot on.

But her words come from playoff experience too — especially from what they endured in the best-of-five semifinal series. As Indy kept pushing back, eventually forcing a decisive Game 5. So, to prevent a similar situation against the Mercury, they need to be extra careful.

Especially since the Mercury are quite used to making comebacks. They even reversed a game, erasing a 20-point deficit to beat the Lynx 89–83 in OT in Game 2. “We’re confident in us, and we’ve been battling all season long,” said Sabally, who was 5 of 11 on 3-pointers in the postgame press conference. “You can’t give up a basketball game if you’re down.”

And that was the 20-point comeback — the third-largest in WNBA playoff history — and also the franchise’s first postseason win at Minnesota after 10 consecutive losses. So if the team can do it against one of the top teams in the league, they can possibly do it against the two-time WNBA champions, too!

But this time, they’ve got an edge. The Phoenix Mercury entered the postseason with the league’s highest-scoring bench, but the Aces haven’t really witnessed that side so far. That’s because Mercury’s bench has been limited in the last two games. However, that doesn’t mean it’ll be the same for Game 3. The team, now hungry for a comeback, can do anything to outshine the Aces.

Especially since they’ll be performing in front of the X-Factor at Footprint Center for the next two games. As Kahleah Copper admitted, “I think the X-Factor is a huge part of the success we had this season… It’s always good to be home.” So yes, Wilson’s words are just a reminder that the Aces haven’t reached the top just yet — but there’s more to it too!

Wilson Never Forgets to Back Up Her Team

Being a two-time WNBA champion, Wilson knows the struggles of making it to the playoffs. So, she’s stepped up and sounded the alarm — but it isn’t something unusual for the team to see her do. That’s because she’s often spotted taking on the leadership role for her teammates.

As she herself admitted in the postgame conference, “I am so proud of Jackie… I’m a pain in the ass sometimes when she’s not doing her job because I know that it is there. I know that Jackie Young is there, so I try to bring it out of her.” And this is the major reason Young, despite being a bit fatigued, carried the team toward the win with her 32 points.

So, Wilson’s often seen taking up that role as captain — pushing others to their ceiling. Especially the Big Three of the team, but even for others, she’s an inspiration. Even Nalyssa Smith’s improving stats are credited to learning from A’ja Wilson. But yes, the team’s not done yet — they need two more wins to grab their third championship title. So, what do you think? Will they be able to do it?