After a relatively strong strong to the season for the Las Vegas Aces, the defending champions now find themselves in their first extended battle against adversity.
On Thursday, the Aces lost control against the Dallas Wings, who dominated the second half en route to a 95-87 victory.
“”I think our defense sucked,” said Hammon in blunt fashion. “[Defense] did a nice job in the first quarter, and then you just have slippage, and that slippage compounds, and you don’t have enough timeouts to even stop the bleeding.”
Half the battle
The Aces seemed to be in fine shape at the end of the first half, sporting an eight point lead at the end of 20 minutes.
It would all go south for them in the second half, however. The Wings managed to get to their game and never look back, putting up 50 points in the last 20 minutes to tie the game after the third period and jet out to a lead they would never relinquish in the fourth. It is just the latest in what has been a concerning stretch for the Aces defense, which has been susceptible to allowing momentum shifts to snowball out of control.
“First half, we were the more physical team, then the second half, we just kind of didn’t give it our all,” said A’ja Wilson.
Commander Shepard
While the dynamic duo of Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd would do their damage, it was Jessica Shepard that would sink any chance of the Aces getting a victory to start the road trip.
Shepard was far and away the best player on the court throughout the entire game, posting a triple-double against the Aces. The former Minnesota Lynx forward would post a dominant 20 rebounds in the contest, as well as 22 points and 10 assists. Shepard was a vital part of the Wings’ comeback, as the Aces simply had no answers for how to stop her as she became the first player in WNBA history to cross both the 20-point and 20-rebound thresholds.
“Jessica can do it all,” commented Jackie Young, who was teammates with Shepard at the University of Notre Dame. “I think just, keeping that in mind while defending her, just knowing that’s she trying to quarterback the game. She gets all the hustle plays, gets all the 50/50 balls, rebounds, all that. It’s showing up on the stat sheet.”
Trouble coming
Do not be surprised if Hammon gets a call from the WNBA following her heated presser after the game.
While Hammon did admit that the Aces’ defense was nowhere near where it had to be in the second half, the Aces head coach also took the time to air her grievances towards the officiating crew. Through the early part of the season, the Aces have only averaged 18.3 free throw attempts per game, tied with Minnesota at the bottom of the league. Against the Wings, Las Vegas only received 12 opportunities at the charity stripe while Dallas received 22.
“A’ja Wilson shoots one free throw, Chennedy Carter zero, Jackie Young zero. I’m f—ing tired of that b——t. I’m not saying (the Dallas Wings) didn’t earn their 22 down there, but when Awak Kuier shoots more free throws than A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young and Chennedy Carter, all combined, that’s a problem,” Hammon said.
“And give me my fine,” Hammon mentioned before abruptly ending the presser.
With the Aces losing back-to-back games for the first time since last July, they will be looking to get back in the win column against the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday.