💪 Layup Lines: Vegas takes Game 1

Happy Sunday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA. This is going to be a great series!

This 486 word newsletter should take about 2 minutes to read.

🎰 Aces’ bench brings it

• The Mercury ripped out to an early 10-2 lead on Friday and scored 50 first-half points, but couldn’t finish it off to take Game 1 on the road.

  • Alyssa Thomas had a chance to retake the lead for Phoenix with 24 seconds left but missed two free throws, and Phoenix’s bench got outscored 41-16 on the night.

• The story for Las Vegas was winning a tough game without their top three starters playing all that well offensively — A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray combined for just 39 points and needed 36 shots / 16 free throws to get there.

  • Wilson did put up a 21 / 10 with five steals and zero turnovers, but the Aces relied on Dana Evans (21 points, 8/13 shooting) and Jewell Loyd (18, 8/16) having arguably their best games of the season.

2️⃣ Today’s game

• Game 2 in Vegas starts at 3pm on ABC. Alyssa Thomas is playing after being cleared from an MRI on her hand and everyone else is at least at full strength on paper.

  • This is the first time the WNBA Finals is best-of-seven, so we don’t have data on how teams fare going down 0-2 — but in the NBA, just five teams have ever come back from a 0-2 Finals deficit.

  • Phoenix probably should’ve won Game 1 and this doesn’t strike me as a blowout series for the Aces. Look for the Mercury to zigzag the momentum back to make this a competitive series.

  • After going 2-0 on Friday, we’re 11-12 in the playoffs and taking:

    • Phoenix +2.5

    • Under 164.5 total points scored

🎙 Commish update

• Cathy Engelbert denied saying that Caitlin Clark and other young stars should be grateful to the WNBA for sponsorships, saying there were "a lot of inaccuracies" in the comments attributed to her by Napheesa Collier in a press conference before Game 1.

  • Engelbert didn’t detail the inaccuracies or do anything to settle the noise around her position, and it went poorly enough that Collier cancelled the meeting they were supposed to have next week.

  • The CBA expires Oct. 31 and we seem no closer to a resolution.

For more: USA Today, SF Chronicle and The Athletic

3️⃣ Unrivaled news to go

• The winter 3v3 league announced its going to play a pair of games in Philadelphia as well as 46 of its 48 players for 2026 — a list that includes the biggest names in the sport outside of Wilson, Clark, Angel Reese and Sabrina Ionescu.

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