On a day when two All-Stars went head to head, Alyssa Thomas delivered the veteran masterpiece.
Missing Kahleah Copper, Satou Sabally and Lexi Held because of various injuries, the Phoenix Mercury got everything they could out of Thomas and knocked off the league-leading Lynx 79-71 at PHX Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
Thomas scored a career-high 29 points and packed the boxscore with other contributions.
How it happened
Lynx All-Star Courtney Williams scored 10 points in the first quarter, while the rest of the Lynx shot 4-for-13 in that period. But as Williams, who finished with 21 points, was pushing the pace for the Lynx (17-3), Thomas was doing the same for the Mercury (14-6), keeping the teams neck-and-neck in the second quarter.
The Lynx got All-Star captain Napheesa Collier involved in the third quarter (eight points) after a quiet first half (four points on three shots), helping them take a five-point lead into the fourth quarter.
After the Lynx withstood several runs from the Mercury, Thomas finally had her way. The Mercury closed the game with a 19-4 run in the final 5 minutes, 45 seconds. Thomas had 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting, with three rebounds, an assist and a steal in that stretch.
What it means
The Lynx had beaten the Mercury twice this season, but they had yet to face Thomas — the WNBA’s assist leader with a 9.8-per-game average and a top candidate, alongside Collier, for league MVP.
Thomas’ presence was the difference. She disrupted the Lynx’s rhythm on both ends, pushed the pace, created mismatches in the paint with her bully ball tactics and delivered in crunch time.