LAS VEGAS -- One night after their 16-game winning streak against the Indiana Fever came to a screeching halt, with an 81-54 embarrassing loss, the Las Vegas Aces waived 6-foot-3 forward Joyner Holmes.
Signed on June 11, Holmes averaged 1.2 points and 1.0 rebounds while the Aces posted a 2-4 record during her time with the team.
With 12 players on the roster, the Aces have 10 active, with Megan Gustafson potentially close to returning from a leg injury and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus on pregnancy leave.
Newest Ace NaLyssa Smith made her team debut, after the Aces traded for her with the Dallas Wings.
Nothing worked, though, as the Aces got 29 points from A'ja Wilson, and no more than six points from anyone else.
Wilson finished 9 of 18 from the floor; the rest of the team was a combined 7 of 43 (16.2%).
"I’m not going to let any of my teammates hold their heads down because they’re way too good," Wilson said after the game. "This isn’t the time to turn inward. This is the time to really shine for one another and come together.
"We haven’t been ourselves in a minute when it comes to the defensive side of the basketball, and that is something that us starting five, we have to really buckle down and figure out."
The Aces trailed by 22 points at halftime, and lost by 25 or more points for the second time this season. It's just the second time the Aces have lost by 25 points or more twice in one season since 2018, when the team moved from San Antonio to Las Vegas.
"There’s not a whole lot to say," coach Becky Hammon said. "That’s a complete lack of professionalism, to come in here with that effort. Complete lack of focus.
"They played harder yesterday in practice, by a lot. So I don’t know how you step onto the floor with 20,000 people in the stands and perform like that. That is the worst offensive night I’ve ever seen."