Alyssa Thomas could be trapped in her Game 1 free-throw nightmare. She missed the chance to give Mercury a 1-0 lead, and now it can come haunting back. While Game 1 was Mercury dominating the majority of the time, the Aces grabbed Game 2 by the scruff of its neck. Right from the word go, they were constantly at Mercury, grabbing every 50-50 ball. Thomas attempted to match that activity but was limited by foul calls during the sequence.

The Mercury were basically forcing an Alyssa Thomas vs A’ja Wilson contest, mirroring their minutes on the court. Thomas took Wilson head-on but slipped to 3 fouls and headed to the bench with 3:10 left for halftime. Thomas was going for her usual pickpockets on Aces but got called in the process.

On the Aces’ side, they were getting regular scrappy steal

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