Phoenix Mercury First-Half Stats Breakdown: Offense

The 2025 Phoenix Mercury offense, built by surrounding Alyssa Thomas with an army of shooters, has been one of the league's best this season,

Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (25) celebrates a basket and foul with guard Sami Whitcomb (33) against the Washington Mystics during the fourth quarter at PHX Arena May 25, 2025. / Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Over the first half of the 2025 season, the Phoenix Mercury have a top-five offense in the WNBA, fueled by the arrival of two new stars, Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas, and a supporting cast of versatile role players who complement their skills. Let's break down why the Mercury have been able to jump up from a below average unit last year to one of the league's best this year, without even having a fully healthy squad.

Ironically, in the Mercury's first season without the most prolific three-point shooter in the history of the league, Phoenix has been at the forefront of the league's three-point revolution this year and have scored a greater share of their points off of threes (35.8%) than any other team in the league, and they have hit more total threes (219) than every team but the Minnesota Lynx (224), who have played two more games than Phoenix.

Roster construction and coaching are the main contributors to their three-point shooting success. This offseason saw a complete overhaul of the roster and the new-look Mercury are full of players who can shoot. Every rotation guard and wing is capable of knocking down open threes, as well as attacking closeouts if defenses overplay them.

If you include Kiana Williams, who has played for the team only on short-term contracts, the Mercury have nine players averaging at least one made three per game and four perimeter players -- Sami Whitcomb, Monique Akoa Makani, DeWanna Bonner, and Kahleah Copper -- are shooting 37% or better from deep. Head coach Nate Tibbetts has them pushing tempo and putting up shots with a quick trigger too. Simply put, defenders can't help on drives without risking three points going up on the scoreboard. They're not just jacking threes for the fun of it either;over 92% of their threes are assisted and the team is tied for third in assists per game overall.

The Mercury are looking to put constant pressure on opposing defenses and they run the floor aggressively after defensive rebounds. This year's Mercs rank fourth in the league in percentage of their points coming on the fast break, which has been a marker of success in the WNBA this year. All The four teams at the top of that list also own the league's top four records and among the league's top five teams in the standings, only the Atlanta Dream don't generate much on the break.

Phoenix has also been solid in terms of protecting the ball. Thomas, the league's leader in assists, does average 3.4 turnovers per game, but that's partly a product of her carrying so much of the team's playmaking responsibility and she still has a strong assist-to-turnover ratio. The Mercury only turn it over 13.9 times per game as a team, good for fifth-best in the league, which also helps their elite defense.

Over the second half of the season, it will be interesting to see if the team can get healthy and play more games with its entire Big Three. In their most recent game, they were forced to play without Sabally, Copper, Akoa Makani, and Lexi Held, and the offense's ceiling is much higher with them all on the court together. The recent addition of DeWanna Bonner, third on the all-time scoring list, gives the offense yet another dimension too. It could take an adjustment period, but it wouldn't be shocking to see Phoenix's offense perform like a top-three unit down the stretch if everyone is available.