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Alyssa Thomas’s Historic Triple-Double Fuels Mercury to WNBA Semifinals

Alyssa Thomas is the greatest triple-double artist the WNBA has ever seen.

Tyler Lauletta

Alyssa Thomas is a triple-double machine, and wrote her name into history once again on Friday night.
Alyssa Thomas is a triple-double machine, and wrote her name into history once again on Friday night. / Aryanna Frank/Getty Images
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Alyssa Thomas and the Phoenix Mercury held off the New York Liberty in a decisive Game 3 of their first-round series on Friday night, taking a 79–73 win and with it, a spot in the WNBA semifinals.

Thomas made some history in the process, becoming the first WNBA player to ever record a 20-point triple-double in the postseason with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists on the night. She added two steals and block to the box score for good measure.

Thomas is no stranger to putting up triple-doubles. She entered the playoffs with a league-leading 23 triple-doubles over her 12-year career—no other player has more four. This was the fifth postseason triple-double of her career.

Chants of “MVP” rained down on the court as Thomas closed out the game from the free-throw line for the Mercury and officially sent home the reigning champions. Her teammates clearly agree with the assessment of the crowd.

"This is just what she does," Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said after the game. "She impacts the game in so many different ways. She cares about one thing and that's winning. When you've got a player of her caliber and with that much pride to win a game, you're going to have a great game."

With the win, the Mercury advance to the WNBA semifinals, where they will face off against the Minnesota Lynx. Game 1 of the best-of-five series tips off on Sunday.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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