Jul 6, 2025; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon watches from the sideline as they take on the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images David Butler II-Imagn Images

Becky Hammon Gets Clear About Aces Dominance Over Mercury After WNBA Finals Win

Originally posted on Women's Fastbreak on SI
By Grant Young | Last updated Oct 5, 2025 7:22 PM ET

While the Las Vegas Aces needed a little luck to beat the Phoenix Mercury in Game 1 of the 2025 WNBA Finals on October 3 (which came in the form of Phoenix star Alyssa Thomas missing two free throws that would have given her team the lead with less than 30 seconds left to play), they needed no such assistance during Game 5 on October 5.

The Aces got off to a slow start on Sunday, as they were losing 27-24 after the first quarter. But they outscored Phoenix 22-10 in the second quarter, then dominated the second half en route to cruising to a 90-78 victory, thus giving them a 2-0 series lead and putting them two games away from winning their third WNBA championship in the past four seasons.

The story of Game 1 was the Aces' bench, as they got a combined 39 points from Jewell Loyd and Dana Evans. But Game 2 was all about Las Vegas' superstars. Reigning WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson scored 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while Jackie Young scored 32 points. 21 of these points came in the third quarter, making for the most points in a quarter in WNBA Finals history.

JACKIE YOUNG 21 PTS IN THE 3RD QUARTER!

THAT'S THE MOST POINTS IN A QUARTER IN WNBA FINALS HISTORY pic.twitter.com/6essBrVjQD
— ESPN (@espn) October 5, 2025

Becky Hammon Gets Honest About Aces Having Mercury's Number So Far This Season

Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon was asked about her team beating the Mercury in five of six games they've played this season when speaking to the media postgame, and she sent a strong message.

"You said we're 0-0 against the Mercury? I like that," Hammon joked, per a video from The Ballers Magazine's YouTube account.

She then added, "Look, we've got to focus in. None of the work ever carries over. So yeah, we can build off some success, we kind of know what we like, the sets, the actions that we like. Defensively, I don't know, you'd have to ask the players, but I feel like we have a firm idea of what we should be doing, and how it should look, and how it should feel. It's not super complicated. We just want to be really solid in some really fundamental areas for us defensively.

"But we're not counting records yet," she added.

Hammon's response brings to mind when the late legend Kobe Bryant said, “What’s there to be happy about? Job’s not finished. Job finished? I don’t think so," when asked why he doesn't look happy when the Los Angeles Lakers took a 2-0 lead against the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals.

“Job’s not finished.”

—Kobe after he was asked why he wasn't smiling with a 2-0 lead in the 2009 Finals pic.twitter.com/gmGclJFERv
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 15, 2020