LAS VEGAS — It was a week of celebration in Las Vegas. The premiere of the “Never Fold” documentary commemorated the Aces’ 2025 title run, A’ja Wilson had the North American debut of her A’Two sneaker at Caesars Palace, and the team received its championship rings — two rings in one — ahead of the season opener against the Phoenix Mercury.
And then the good vibes promptly came to an end. The Mercury won the tip, scored the first basket and never looked back en route to a dominant 99-66 win over the defending champions. Las Vegas became the first team to lose on its ring night since 2018, when the Minnesota Lynx lost on a buzzer-beater to the Los Angeles Sparks, whom they beat in the WNBA Finals the year before.
This was the second time in three seasons that Phoenix faced the title-winning Aces in their opener. It was the first time, however, the Mercury were the team Las Vegas beat in the finals, and Aces coach Becky Hammon was wary of that dynamic.
“If I’m Phoenix, I’m coming in with definitely an edge, and sometimes that emotion is hard to match because they’ve been pissed off for the last six months,” Hammon said pregame.
It was hard to tell that the Mercury were the team that lost in a sweep last October. Phoenix was the harder-playing, better-executing, more complete squad Saturday. Alyssa Thomas dictated the proceedings with her playmaking, tallying nine assists to go along with her 20 points in 26 minutes. Natasha Mack finished well on the inside and did just enough to deter Wilson on the other end. The Mercury also got a boost from spot starter Jovana Nogic, who had two practices with Phoenix during training camp before being forced into the starting lineup due to an injury to Sami Whitcomb. The Serbian guard was lights out from the field, scoring 19 points while hitting 4 of 5 3-pointers.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas couldn’t get into any rhythm. Phoenix walled off the paint, and the Aces were too content to settle for midrange jumpers early. They didn’t hit many jumpers, finishing 4-of-19 from 3-point range. Theoretically, Hammon would turn to Chennedy Carter for scoring off the bench, but Carter’s defense was so disastrous in her Las Vegas debut — even worse than the team’s total effort — that she didn’t get significant run until the second half when the game was well out of hand.
The Aces ended up suffering the largest loss by a defending champion during a season opener, and the sixth-worst by a defending champion ever. It was the Mercury’s largest season-opening win in franchise history.
Las Vegas tied the record for a defending title holder’s worst defeat (38 points) during the 2023 season, but went on to win the title that year anyway. The Aces have a long way to go before worrying about the end result of this season.
Neither team has much time to soak in the result, as both play the second half of back-to-back days with games Sunday. The Aces head to Los Angeles while Phoenix plays at Golden State.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, WNBA
2026 The Athletic Media Company
