{
  "id": 4671015,
  "title": "Alyssa Thomas Rises To the Occasion As Bonner’s Exit And Ionescu’s Shooting Struggles Make Headlines",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/alyssa-thomas-rises-to-the-occasion-as-bonners-exit-and-ionescus",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-31T16:25:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/alyssa-thomas-rises-occasion-bonner-162548057.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Phoenix Mercury's Alyssa Thomas stepped up admirably following DeWanna Bonner's departure, leading the team to a 101-69 victory over the Toronto Tempo on Saturday. The 34-year-old forward contributed 12 assists, six rebounds, four points, and a steal, tying her season average assists with Caitlin Clark at 8.4 APG. Although the Mercury are out of playoff contention, they are using the remaining games to assess their performance for the upcoming season. In contrast, Sabrina Ionescu's shooting struggles continued as she failed to score in both her most recent games against the Chicago Sky and Golden State Valkyries. Despite her lackluster performance, Ionescu remains optimistic about breaking her shooting slump, stating that it's not a significant issue and that she'll just laugh and shake it off. Ionescu has 17 days to regain her shooting form before the WNBA's break for the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup.",
  "summary": "The departure of DeWanna Bonner from the Phoenix Mercury saw Alyssa Thomas step up even more for them as the 34-year-old forward led the way against the Toronto Tempo in their strong 101-69 win on Saturday. Ahead of the FIBA World Cup Break, Alyssa Thomas made everything click on offense for the Mercury after dishing [...]",
  "key_points": [
    "Alyssa Thomas leads Mercury to 101-69 win over Toronto Tempo",
    "Sabrina Ionescu struggles with shooting, scores 0 in last two games",
    "Ionescu optimistic about breaking shooting slump before FIBA World Cup"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}