Reigning MVP A’ja Wilson and top challenger Alyssa Thomas will meet for the third time this season when the Las Vegas Aces play the host Phoenix Mercury on Friday.
Aces center Wilson and Mercury point forward Thomas are in a race with injured Minnesota center Napheesa Collier for the award that Wilson has won three times in the last five seasons.
The Aces (19-14) enter on a five-game winning streak after defeating defending league champion New York 83-77 on Wednesday, and now look to gain another game on Phoenix (19-12).
The Mercury have not played since having a three-game winning streak broken Sunday in a 74-66 home loss to the Atlanta Dream (who sit atop the Eastern Conference at 21-11).
Wilson had 17 points and 16 rebounds against the Liberty, getting seven rebounds (five offensive) in the fourth quarter as the Aces overcame a two-point deficit after three.
Guard Jewell Loyd had 21 points and five 3-pointers in her eighth game off the bench. The Aces are 7-1 since she took that role.
“I just try to come in and get a rhythm, try to see what we need,” said Loyd, who is averaging 15.5 points off the bench and 10.4 as a starter.
The teams split the first two in the series, each winning on the other’s home floor. Wilson had 26 and 18 in the Aces’ 84-81 victory in Phoenix on June 29. She did not play in the Mercury’s 76-70 victory June 15.
Both Wilson and Thomas set WNBA records in the last week. Wilson had the first 30-point, 20-rebound game in league history in a 94-86 victory over Connecticut last Sunday, when she also tied Tina Charles’ league record with six 30/15 games.
Thomas became the first player in league history to record three straight triple-doubles (she was also the first player with two) in a 95-60 victory over Indiana on Aug. 7, a streak that ended in the loss to Atlanta.
Thomas has 16 double-doubles this season. Wilson has 15. Chicago’s Angel Reese leads the league with 17.
Wilson is second to Collier in scoring (22.0) and second to Reese in rebounds (9.8). Thomas is averaging 16.1 points, 8.7 rebounds and a league-high 9.0 assists.
The Mercury, in the last of a four-game homestand, welcomed the recent break before a three-game road trip that begins Sunday and ends with a rematch in Las Vegas on Aug. 21.
The Mercury played nine games in 19 days after the All-Star break.
“We’re all looking forward to having these days off to reset mentally, physically,” Thomas said.
–Field Level Media
