LAS VEGAS -- As A'ja Wilson enters her fourth WNBA Finals appearance of her six-year career with the Las Vegas Aces, she is still finding ways to elevate her game.
In the best-of-five series against the Phoenix Mercury beginning Friday, Wilson's motivation is found in her Finals rematch with Alyssa Thomas.
"It's always fun competing against [Thomas]," Wilson said. "It helps me elevate myself, whether it's defensive schemes, [managing] personnel, or just taking everything to another level every game. We're going to play our best basketball."
This is the second time Wilson and Thomas will face each other in the Finals. The other matchup was in 2022, when Thomas was a member of the Connecticut Sun. The Aces won the title in a sweep.
In that series, Thomas was the most effective defender on Wilson. She held Wilson -- the two-time league MVP at that point -- to 6-of-15 shooting (40%) as the primary defender, while Wilson shot 59% against all other defenders, according to ESPN Insights.
The pair also faced off in the 2020 semifinals, when Las Vegas defeated Connecticut in five games.
A lot has changed since. Wilson is coming off a regular season that earned her the fourth MVP award of her career and led the Aces from a .500 record in late July to the No. 2 seed entering the postseason. Wilson led the league in scoring (23.4 points per game) and blocks (2.3), and was second in rebounds (10.2).
"[A'ja is] the ultimate competitor," Thomas said. "She's doing a lot of things that a lot of players could never do. Her résumé speaks for itself. I think when you have players like that, it constantly makes you want to evolve and make your game better. It elevates my game in a way. Each and every year, I try to come back and bring more."
This year, Thomas' 12th in the WNBA, she added more facilitating to her repertoire. She has handled the ball before, but in her first season with the Mercury she has become a full-time point guard.
For that reason, Wilson doesn't consider Thomas a typical post player. She rattled off a list of attributes that set Thomas apart -- her facilitating, getting her teammates involved and ability to "pick the game apart."
"I don't get to guard that every single day," Wilson said. "The way she sees the game, her vision and the way she gets it to her teammates, it's something that she adds and brings to this game to that position that I don't see every night."
The Aces won the regular-season matchup 3-1, but both teams say they can't use those games to anticipate how this series will go.
"Playoff basketball, man, it's a different beast," Aces guard Chelsea Gray said. "It's totally different than the regular season. ... Somebody's playbook can be completely different. ... Maybe it's a little scouting, little nuggets, but it's a brand-new season. We try to hone in on the playoff basketball play."