Mercury’s Lexi Held talks about Alyssa Thomas’ impact in 2025
Phoenix Mercury guard Lexi Held spoke about Alyssa Thomas’ impact on the Mercury for the 2025 season.
It all came down to the second half for the Phoenix Mercury against the New York Liberty.
After a back-and-forth first half against a team fighting for a playoff spot, the Mercury gained significant separation with a big second half that included holding the Liberty to 24 points and outscoring them by 19 to win 80-63 at PHX Arena on Saturday, Aug. 30.
The Liberty surrendered 26 points off 19 turnovers, while the Mercury allowed just seven on 12 turnovers.
The win had major playoff implications as the fourth-place Mercury (25-14) now hold the season series over the fifth-place Liberty (24-16) and have a better chance of home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Kahleah Copper led all scorers with 22 points, followed by Alyssa Thomas with 14 points and nine assists.
“There’s a good chance that we see New York in the first round, so it is what it is,” coach Nate Tibbetts said. “I’m really pleased with our defense in the second half. They were missing a key piece in Sabrina (Ionescu) and tried to play a little bit bigger than they have, but with (Breanna) Stewart back, Emma (Meesseman) and JJ (Jonquel Jones) back, they were trying some things tonight.”
With Ionescu ruled out with a left toe injury, the Liberty opted for a bigger lineup without the starting shooting guard, placing the 6-foot-4 Leonie Fiebich as one of the guards. The Mercury also dealt with more length up the middle with 6-foot-4 Stewart, 6-foot-4 Meesseman and 6-foot-6 Jones.
The bigger lineup posed threats at first, with the Liberty grabbing 14 defensive rebounds and outscoring the Mercury in the paint by six points, but the Mercury picked up the pace in the second half, and the Liberty couldn’t keep up.
With center Natasha Mack energizing the defense, the Mercury were able to get more deflections and scored 18 points off the Liberty’s eight turnovers in the second half. Mack also played a big role on the boards, grabbing two more offensive rebounds than the entire Liberty team combined. Mack finished with 10 rebounds, eight points and four blocks.
“I’m super excited for her and her conditioning. She just impacts winning with her effort on the glass,” Tibbetts said. “She flies around, her teammates love her, you want good things to happen to good people, and she’s stayed with it and is figuring out how to play next to AT, which is awesome. Her activity on the glass was big time.”
After averaging 24 free throw attempts over the last three games, the Mercury kept the Liberty away from the free throw line and only allowed 11 attempts.
Tibbetts stuck to his eight-player rotation with forward DeWanna Bonner, forward Kathryn Westbeld and guard Sami Whitcomb as the only substitutes. Guards Lexi Held and Kiana Williams only saw minutes in the last two minutes when the Mercury held an 18-point lead.
The Mercury led by double digits in the fourth quarter, but the Liberty’s lineup still proved dangerous with Meesseman hitting a pull-up 3-pointer with 6:30 left. However, Westbeld shifted the momentum not long into her time off the bench with her second 3-pointer of the game with 6:15 left.
“For her to come in with that kind of confidence and take that shot, we believed in Kat,” Bonner said. “She was doing this before I got here in the beginning of the season, and she’s continuing to hit big buckets and battle with (centers). You put her on a 5-player and she does a great job down there. Shout out to Kat, and it’s not easy coming off the bench and being ready, but she did a great job tonight.”
The Mercury will close the homestand with the Indiana Fever on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. MST. The Fever remain in the hunt for a playoff berth, despite the team’s guard depth being depleted by injuries.
