“Yeah, it’s unfortunate. We definitely gave that one away. We got to move on quickly because we got another one tomorrow,” were Becky Hammon’s first words in the postgame interview after her Las Vegas Aces let a 6-point halftime lead slip away in a 70-80 loss to the Indiana Fever. A defeat that left many stunned. Why? Because they were the team in form, and Caitlin Clark wasn’t suiting up against them. However, Hammon was surely not using that as an excuse to relax. She has known since early July that the Indiana Fever is “a scary team” even without Clark, “in the sense of Caitlin being out is somebody else’s opportunity to get minutes“.
Unfortunately, that awareness hasn’t shown up on the court, turning this into a season the Aces will likely want to put behind them. Everyone knew that losing the likes of Kelsey Plum, Sydney Colson, Kate Martin, and Alysha Clark was bound to cause issues, and well, that happened. Under Becky Hammon, we have never seen the Aces struggle to stay above the .500 mark. This is the first. What was supposed to be a revenge tour after last season’s semifinals exit has quickly turned into a fight for the playoffs.
But there was some sort of remontada on its way, led by the reigning MVP A’ja Wilson. Before facing the Fever, A’ja put up 95 points and 38 rebounds in her last 3 games. The outcome? Three consecutive wins for the first time this season. But all that momentum came crashing down when they faced the Indiana Fever. And while the loss stung, the biggest talking point was how Becky Hammon chose to manage her rotations.
With 6:24 left in the first quarter and in response to a 12-4 run by the Fever, Becky Hammon made a bold call by subbing out her entire starting five. In came Dana Evans, Kiah Stokes, Megan Gustafson, Kierstan Bell, and Aaliyah Nye. Now, it’s not every day you see a complete lineup change that early in the game, and naturally, Hammon was asked about the unexpected rotation move. To which she replied, “Well, they were on pace to score about 30 points. So I wasn’t happy with the defense. It was just a little attention grab. I think they scored six points for the rest of the quarter. So that was the goal, just for us to buckle down defensively, and I thought the second unit came in and did a great job of that.”
Aug 25, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon (L) argues a call against her team with official Tim Greene (R) during the first half of a basketball game against the Chicago Sky at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Well, besides the “attention grab,” Coach Hammon was probably trying to prevent deja vu. In her last matchup against the Fever before this, Hammon had pulled no punches in laying out the blatant lack of effort from her side. “I don’t know how you step onto the floor with 20,000 people in the stands and perform like that. It is the worst offensive night I’ve ever seen [since] I’ve been here in the last four years,” she’d said. So, clearly, she didn’t want the score to be 81-54 again.
And to be fair, it worked, until it didn’t. The Aces locked in defensively, going on a 10-2 run to tie it up 18-18 by the end of the first quarter. The team then went on to dominate the second quarter as well. They outscored the Fever 23-17 and ended the second quarter on a 12-2 run to enter halftime with a 41-35 lead. But, of course, they weren’t able to secure the win after old woes returned, and Fever coach Stephanie White was successful in rallying her troops and motivating them to stage a second-half comeback.
This defeat in particular will always sting a bit, given the fact that there are playoff implications at play.
The Las Vegas Aces head coach talks about the importance of the upcoming games
The Fever and the Aces have clashed three times this season, and with this regular-season final 80-70 finish, Indiana took the series 2-1. That does not just give Indiana bragging rights, it also hands them a handy little tiebreaker advantage if postseason spots get tight.
Right now, the two are elbowing each other in the standings, with Indiana sitting pretty at No. 6 and Las Vegas just a step behind at No. 7. And since the playoff picture only cares about the top eight, conference loyalty aside, that tiebreaker could come in clutch. Safe to say, Becky Hammon’s in no mood to let Indiana have the last laugh, which is exactly why she wants to move quickly and fix what went wrong.
“We try to not finish with the same record. Let’s start there. Hopefully we finish a game or two ahead of them,” Hammon said of her priorities. “Playoffs is a different animal. I like my group. I like the experience. So we go out and play. It doesn’t matter who, whether it’s Indiana or whoever, we’re always trying to learn and grow from our process.”
So, yes, learning and growing. That’s what matters. Let’s hope that the Aces took away at least one key lesson: either come out swinging in the third quarter (apply White’s logic of not playing soft, perhaps) or start hitting something, anything, from deep. They went a cold 2-of-15 from three, marking both their fewest makes and tying their fewest attempts from long range this season. And yes, the players will have to step up “professionally,” as Hammon’s been demanding.
After all, as Jackie Young said postgame, “I think at the end of the day, we need to just shoot the wide-open 3s that they’re giving us. We’re hesitating…Coach gives us the green light. We just have to make the right read. … They’re daring us to shoot it. And we have great shooters on this team. We just have to have that confidence.”
Guess we’ll leave you with that for now.
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