"Now they were just showing off, treating the crowd to an encore. Jackie Young zigged and zagged to the rim. Chelsea Gray's strange-looking heaves swished in. NaLyssa Smith pulled down all the right boards. Jewell Loyd popped into open threes from screens. The universe can sometimes be indelicate with its symbolism: A'ja Wilson slid across the paint to block DeWanna Bonner. The ball spun in the air and fell on Bonner's head."
"With a 97-86 Game 4 win over the Mercury in Phoenix on Friday night, the Aces won their third WNBA championship in four years to finish a Finals sweep and an unthinkable in-season turnaround. After beginning the regular season 14-14, they finished it on a 16-game win streak. Including the postseason, they won 25 of their last 28 games. No team dreams of guarding A'ja Wilson, but for the undersized Mercury, she proved a recurring nightmare."
"Phoenix's defense, its heavy ball pressure with high pickup points, couldn't crack an offense run through a transcendent post player and her cast of stone-cold killers. (Fittingly, the Finals MVP spent the finale taking 19 free throws.) One team's central problem so clear and uncorrectable, the series was coated in a kind of helplessness; you were just watching the same cruelty unfold over and over. Phoenix began to emotionally unravel early in the series, and by the end, the unraveling got more corporeal."
The Las Vegas Aces defeated the Phoenix Mercury 97-86 in Game 4 to secure their third WNBA championship in four years and complete a Finals sweep. The Aces transformed a 14-14 start to the season into a dominant finish, riding a 16-game regular-season win streak and winning 25 of their last 28 games including postseason. A'ja Wilson controlled the paint and drew heavy fouling, while role players like Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, NaLyssa Smith and Jewell Loyd provided timely scoring. Phoenix struggled to contain Las Vegas, suffered injuries and an ejection, and could not overcome late rallies.
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