Wilson hits last-second jumper to lift Aces over Mercury 90-88 for a 3-0 lead in the WNBA Finals

By DAVID BRANDT PHOENIX AP The Las Vegas Aces didn t play their best late in Contest in the WNBA Finals coughing up a -point lead in the final quarter that meant the event came down to one offensive possession with five seconds remaining Even so there wasn t any panic The measure of having a four-time MVP in the paint is nice A ja Wilson made a turnaround jumper with seconds left capping a stellar -point -rebound night and lifting the Aces over the Phoenix Mercury - on Wednesday night for a - lead in the WNBA Finals Aces coach Becky Hammon noted there wasn t any discussion about who would take the final shot There was no need to overthink anything You give the ball to A ja and get out of the way Hammon mentioned That s all it really was The Aces are one win away from winning their third title in four seasons Competition is Friday in Phoenix Las Vegas had what looked like a relaxed - lead entering the fourth quarter but the Mercury closed the gap to - with left on Kahleah Copper s -pointer DeWanna Bonner tied the competition at -all on a -pointer with left and made two free throws with left to tie it at That set up Wilson s heroics in the final seconds She took an entry pass from Chelsea Gray and made her turnaround jumper over Alyssa Thomas and Bonner as the Mercury s home crowd groaned I feel like in that moment if a coach has to tell you what to do I m not doing my job Wilson announced Hammon just drew up a play it wasn t even really a play it was pretty much what you saw I m appreciative that Becky trusts me in those moments That s playoff basketball Those are the moments that you root for Phoenix had one final try to get a bucket but Bonner s quick jumper was no good The -foot- Wilson continued her dominant postseason run making of shots from the field and adding four assists She is averaging more than points in postseason games Jackie Young added points Wilson s total points over games is a WNBA postseason record The Aces took a - lead by winning the first two games in Las Vegas but the Mercury hoped for a boost from their boisterous home crowd in Competition Instead Las Vegas thrived in the hostile atmosphere showing the poise of a veteran gang that s been in high-pressure situations multiple times Bonner led the Mercury with points while Satou Sabally had Copper scored of her points in the fourth quarter Thomas was one assist short of a triple-double with points and rebounds Sabally left the challenge with left in the fourth quarter when she got tangled with Young and then fell into Kierstan Bell hitting her head on the side of her leg Sabally stayed on the ground for several minutes before being helped off the court Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts disclosed he didn t have an update on Sabally following the tournament Las Vegas used a - run midway through the first quarter to take an early - lead and never trailed again Jewell Loyd came off the bench and made four -pointers in less than two minutes to lead the offensive onslaught Phoenix responded with its own - run to tie the match but could never regain the advantage The Mercury trailed - heading into the second quarter The Aces pulled away late in the second quarter to take a - lead into halftime Las Vegas shot of from -point range including a combined six from bench players Loyd and Dana Evans Tibbetts stated his band s defense needed to improve after it gave up points in Match and in Competition but things weren t much better on Wednesday The Aces used their early -point barrage to turn the battle into another high-scoring shootout Tibbetts reported he was proud of his organization for not giving in We re not into moral victories Tibbetts commented This was a meeting that we craved to get needed to get But for us to compete the way we did just shows the character of our crew