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Happy Thursday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA.

• It’s A’ja Wilson’s planet and we’re all just living on it.

This 469 word newsletter should take about 2 minutes to read.

⭐️ Amazing A’ja

• The Mercury desperately needed a win last night and played like it. They shot slightly better than in Game 2 (44%, 7-21 on 3-pointers) and finally got a huge game off the bench from DeWanna Bonner (25 points, 10 rebounds). They also attempted more free throws on the night (31 to 25) while holding 2/3 of the Aces’ Big 3 to 11-29 shooting.

  • But sometimes in basketball, you can do almost everything right and still lose, because you have to try and stop superstars like A’ja Wilson. You have to face the best player in the world and can’t really do much about it. You have to be perfect and just pray that’s enough.

• Wilson tallied 34 points and 14 rebounds last night while hitting the game-winner over two perennial All-Stars. Alyssa Thomas and Bonner were both in good position, but A’ja found her spot and hit a twirling, difficult shot. It was that kind of night for Phoenix.

• While smart basketball people might have deeper analysis, this is a star-driven league and A’ja has been on another level.

  • Are Charles Barkley / Thomas ringless because they weren’t good enough to win a championship, or did they just have to play against Michael Jordan / A’ja?

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🗞️ 3 good reads

1. The Aces and Mercury are playing on different difficulty settings (Yahoo)

2. Wilson rewards Aces' trust with last-second winner (ESPN)

3. The Aces had A’ja Wilson and the Mercury didn’t (Washington Post)

👀 Looking ahead to Friday

• Phoenix has one more chance to avoid being swept in the league’s first best-of-seven Finals. Game 4 in Phoenix starts at 8pm ET tomorrow on ESPN.

  • Even though this series is over, the Mercury have a lot of proud veterans and it would be surprising to watch them roll over at home.

  • That said, if Satou Sabally is out with this head injury, Phoenix and its short bench might not be able to keep up.

• I’m going to hold off on making picks until knowing more about Sabally, but after going 2-0 last night, we’re now 13-14 in the playoffs.

🫸 All-Defensive teams to go

• My only quibble with yesterday’s announcement is Rhyne Howard or Veronica Burton over Sun rookie Saniya Rivers, who grew into maybe the toughest wing defender in the league by the end of the season.

Layup Lines is written 100% by a human being. I very much appreciate you reading and will see you back here tomorrow.

— Everett Cook, Founder & Editor