My Preview of Game 3 of the first-ever best-of-seven WNBA Finals focused primarily on what Phoenix needed to do to win that game and get back in the series. Because Phoenix played so poorly in Game 2, I thought the onus was on them to up their level and take Game 3 from the Las Vegas Aces. Despite yet another furious comeback in these playoffs, Phoenix fell just short and now it would take a truly historic turnaround to overcome their 3-0 deficit. If I were to be skeptical I would say the Aces shot the lights out and received a favorable whistle through three quarters and they didn’t in the fourth quarter, which explains their big lead and Phoenix’s comeback. That’s probably not fair to the Aces, who are one win away from their third WNBA title in four seasons. Let’s take a look at how they got there.

A’Ja Wilson Leaves No Doubt

I don’t want to be one of those people who uses the postseason as a referendum on a regular-season award. A’ja Wilson was a deserving MVP, even if I’m still not certainly I wouldn’t have voted for Napheesa Collier. In any case, Phoenix needed their own MVP candidate, Alyssa Thomas, to at least play Wilson to a draw to have any chance in this series. You could argue that was the case in Game 1, but Wilson has been much better the last two games. She already has the most points in a WNBA Finals, thanks in part to her 34-point effort on Wednesday. With Las Vegas making nearly all of their threes in the first three quarters, Phoenix was forced to mostly defend Wilson one-on-one. That was mostly a disaster, especially with Alyssa Thomas spending so much time defending Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young.

Wilson was just as impactful on the defensive end. Kahleah Copper got her a couple of times on switches but Wilson finished with three blocks and 11 defensive rebounds. Very little came easily for Phoenix on the offensive end, and Wilson played the biggest part in that.

Taking Care of the Basketball

The Aces had eight turnovers as a team, the same number as Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally combined. More importantly, I can’t recall a single bad shot Las Vegas took in the entire game. I’m sure there were some, but I thought they basically got a good look every time down the floor, despite shooting just 42.6 percent from the field. If it wasn’t Wilson one-on-one in the paint, it was Jewell Loyd or Dana Evans knocking down open threes, or Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young going towards the basket. It stood in stark contrast to Phoenix’s struggles on the other end. If the Aces take care of the basketball and are patient enough to get good shots, they are extremely tough to beat.

Attack the Offensive Glass

As someone who was hoping for a long series, it was extremely frustrating to see the Aces grab 14 offensive rebounds. One of the reasons the Aces were able to pull away in the second quarter is that every time Phoenix got a stop, there would be a long rebound without a single Mercury player anywhere to be found. I give Phoenix a lot of credit for sticking together and making their comeback, because the lack of defensive rebounding was quite demoralizing.

Make their Free Throws

I can quibble with how often they got to the line, but at the end of the day, the Aces shot six fewer free throws than Phoenix but made the same amount. A’Ja Wilson alone was 11-for-12 from the line, and as a team, they made 23 of their 25 free throws. Like so much of the Aces’ game, making free throws isn’t flashy, but it very well made the difference in a game they won by just two points.

Making Phoenix Work Offensively

I really thought Phoenix would be able to take advantage of NaLyssa Smith, Dana Evans and Megan Gustafson defensively. They finally got the better of Gustafson a few times in the fourth quarter, though she stood up Alyssa Thomas to give A’Ja Wilson the chance to win it with 0.1 seconds remaining. Smith and Evans combined to commit 11 fouls in 32 minutes, but at least they were working hard and weren’t giving up easy baskets. Smith was a team-best +16 in this game, and you could argue her foul trouble is a big reason why the Mercury were able to come back at all.