Alyssa Thomas All Clear After Injury Scare Near End of WNBA Finals Game 1

Thomas underwent an MRI on her left hand.
Alyssa Thomas was one assist shy of a triple-double in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals
Alyssa Thomas was one assist shy of a triple-double in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals / Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

The Mercury suffered a tough 89-86 defeat to the Aces in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals Friday night. Debatably worse news for Phoenix was that their do-it-all superstar Alyssa Thomas was seen shaking her hand in discomfort near the end of the difficult road loss.

Thomas finished the game just one assist shy of a triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists on the night. She had an opportunity to tie the game and give Phoenix back the lead with two foul shots and less than 30 seconds left, but she unfortunately wasn't able to connect on either.

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Her health moving forward in the series was a slight concern, as Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts wasn't able to provide an update on Thomas's hand when asked after the game. Thomas told the AP's Doug Feinberg that her hand was "fine" after the game. On Saturday, ESPN's Kendra Andrews reported that the Mercury star underwent an MRI on her left hand Friday night and the results came back clean. Andrews added that Thomas is clear to play in Sunday's Game 2 in Las Vegas.

In her first season with the Mercury, Thomas has led the team in points (18.1), rebounds (8.6), assists (9.1) and steals (1.8) per game over the postseason. Over the regular season, she led the WNBA in assists with 9.2 per game, in addition to 15.4 points and 8.8 rebounds each contest. The Mercury will look to even the series with the Aces Sunday before it heads to Phoenix.


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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.