Mercury vs. Sparks: Alyssa Thomas Posts Her 20th Regular-Season Triple-Double as Phoenix Wins 86-82

Fifteen assists is a fine afternoon's work for anybody. Assists on seven of your team's last eight baskets is a monopoly, and on Wednesday the Los Angeles Sparks learned there is no regulator for Alyssa Thomas.

Thomas finished with 19 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds for her 20th triple-double in the regular season, and her last dime, to Monique Akoa Makani with 14 seconds left, put away the Phoenix Mercury's 86-82 win at crypto.com Arena. Phoenix made only nine free throws all day, every one of them hers, which tells you plenty about who was running this show.

Sixty-All, Then an Assembly Line

Los Angeles landed the first real punch, an 8-0 run in the opening quarter that turned a 7-2 deficit into a 10-7 lead. It did not hold. Phoenix led 19-18 after one and 43-41 at the half, with Kahleah Copper, Thomas and Akoa Makani combining for 32 of those points. The Mercury would go on to lead for 78 percent of the game by ESPN's count, though their biggest cushion all day was eight.

The Sparks erased the whole thing late in the third, when Cameron Brink and Rae Burrell hit threes inside the final 63 seconds of the quarter to make it 60-60.

Then Phoenix went to work. Copper opened the fourth with a basket and an assist, and the offense turned into a conveyor belt, going 12 of 18 from the field with 10 assists in the period. Natasha Mack scored off a DeWanna Bonner pass at 4:59 for a 75-70 lead. Sami Whitcomb and Mack then finished consecutive Thomas feeds to make it 79-72 with 3:46 left. Bonner cashed another one at 3:16, and when Whitcomb stepped into a 26-foot three off yet another Thomas pass at 2:49, it was 84-76.

Los Angeles would not go away. Ariel Atkins hit a three at 1:56, Dearica Hamby made a free throw at 1:25, and Burrell's finger roll with 47.5 seconds left cut it to 84-82. Phoenix had spent most of the quarter making this look easy, and suddenly it was a one-possession game in front of 16,900 people.

Thomas Ran the Entire Building

Thomas shot 5 of 9 from the field, went 9 of 13 at the line and added three steals in 36 minutes. The AP counts six more triple-doubles in the playoffs on top of the 20 in the regular season. What the box score cannot quite capture is how simple she made things for everybody else. Phoenix had 28 assists on 35 baskets, and more than half of those assists were hers.

Copper led the Mercury with 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting while playing through five fouls. Akoa Makani scored 14 and Mack came off the bench for 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting, with two blocks. Whitcomb's eight points included that 26-footer in the fourth.

Burrell led the Sparks with 20 points and three threes, Hamby had 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and Atkins scored 15 on efficient shooting. Nneka Ogwumike, meanwhile, made some franchise history on a rough day for her team. Her ninth rebound moved her past Candace Parker (2,902) and into second place on the Sparks' career rebounding list, behind only Lisa Leslie. She finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season. Los Angeles even won the boards 37-33 and got to the line more often, but 40 percent shooting against Phoenix's 47 is a hard thing to explain away, and so is a bench that managed 11 points to the Mercury's 21.

Five Seconds at the End

The whole afternoon came down to one exchange. Trailing 84-82, the Sparks got the ball to Hamby for a layup that would have tied it with 19 seconds to go, and it would not drop. Five seconds later, at the other end, Thomas found Akoa Makani for a one-foot basket, and that was that.

It is worth noticing how little drama there was in that final Phoenix possession. With a two-point lead and the game on the line, the Mercury did not need a hero shot or a contested pull-up. Thomas had spent 10 minutes getting teammates layups, and she got one more. One assist, the 15th on an absurd pile, and the only one Los Angeles had no time left to answer.

Where Phoenix Won It

• Fast-break points: Phoenix 20, Los Angeles 3.
• Points in the paint: Phoenix 54, Los Angeles 36.
• Points off turnovers: Phoenix 17, Los Angeles 11, with 18 Sparks giveaways to 12 for the Mercury.
• Assists: Phoenix 28, Los Angeles 20.
• Free throws: Los Angeles 17 of 21, Phoenix 9 of 13.

Two Teams Headed Opposite Ways Into the Break

Phoenix moves to 10-18 and 6-9 on the road with its second straight win, following a five-game losing streak. This was also the Mercury's first win over Los Angeles in three tries this season, after losses of 97-88 and 111-102. Golden State comes to Phoenix on July 29.

The Sparks drop to 10-16 and 5-8 at home, and the All-Star break arrives with them on a five-game losing streak. They had a real chance to end it here and had the ball with a chance to tie in the final 20 seconds, which is about as close as a losing streak gets to being over without actually ending. New York visits on Tuesday.

Yes, Chef

Twenty regular-season triple-doubles is the number that goes in the headline. Seven of the last eight baskets is the number Los Angeles will be stuck on over the break. The Sparks had four players in double figures, 17 made free throws and a genuine franchise moment from Ogwumike. Phoenix spent the fourth quarter running like the kitchen on The Bear on a good night, with Thomas calling every ticket, and all the Sparks could do was say the only thing that fits: yes, chef.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press story carried on wnba.com.