‘Worst … I’ve ever seen’: Fever don’t need Clark to bury Aces — PHOTOS
The roller coaster of the Aces’ 2025 season screeched to a new low Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Sunday’s win over the Phoenix Mercury, then the second-place team in the WNBA standings, was the lift that set fans up for the diving drop.
Before taking on the Indiana Fever, Aces coach Becky Hammon seemed optimistic for the ascent to continue. She’d watched one practice with newest trade acquisition NaLyssa Smith, and the team just “felt different,” Hammon said.
Instead of showcasing that feeling, the Aces took to the court and trailed from start to finish in an 81-54 loss to the Fever. The Aces trailed by 22 points at halftime, and the final buzzer sounded without the Aces making a single convincing run.
It was the Aces’ first loss to the Fever since 2019, ending a 16-game winning streak.
Indiana didn’t even have the services of injured star guard Caitlin Clark, who missed her fourth straight game with a groin injury. Kelsey Mitchell had 25 points to lead the Fever (9-8).
A’ja Wilson had 29 points for the Aces (8-9). She scored more than the rest of her team combined, with no other player reaching double figures. Smith, a forward who arrived Monday in a trade with the Dallas Wings, finished with four points and a team-high seven rebounds in 23 minutes.
When asked what can even be said to a team full of Olympians and two-time WNBA champions after a loss like that, Hammon was blunt.
“There’s not a whole lot to say,” she 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.”
The Aces have now lost six games by double digits before even reaching the All-Star break. Last year, they gave up six such defeats for the entire regular season.
The Aces’ issues were on display early, with the Fever scoring the first six points before Wilson finally answered with a bucket.
Wilson stays positive
Wilson, who had 17 first-half points despite sitting for part of the second quarter to be treated for a right shoulder injury, offered encouragement when asked about her teammates.
She was covered in tape and ice as she explained her approach while sitting next to guard Jackie Young, the team’s second-leading scorer on the night with six points. Point guard Chelsea Gray didn’t score until the fourth quarter, finishing with two points.
“I’m not going to let any of my teammates hold their heads down because they’re way too good,” Wilson said. “This isn’t the time to turn inward. This is the time to really shine for one another and come together.”
In their sole moment of fight, the Aces started the second half on a 8-1 run and eventually cut the deficit to 13. But a Sophie Cunningham steal on an inbound play put the Fever back up by 20 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Aces finished with 19 turnovers to the Fever’s 14. They were outscored in the paint 38-20 and outrebounded 37-26. The Aces only made 3 of their 16 3-point attempts and shot 26 percent from the field.
“When you’re throwing it to the other team and you’re giving them multiple opportunities on the offensive glass — they just wanted it more than us,” Hammon said. “I think that’s the most disturbing thing to me, is when people want it more than we do.”
Lineup change?
Lack of effort was the common thread in the Aces’ analysis of the loss, with Hammon even venturing to say that she might change the starting lineup to spur a change in how the Aces start.
“You’ve got to come with your engine started. You got to come with the gas pedal down. And we just have not, in too many games this year,” Hammon said. “We would have won five or six more games if we just played harder.”
Hammon added that it’s difficult to know which adjustments to make when the team’s effort is so unpredictable. Wilson said that she’s heard Hammon say the team is “bipolar,” and she agrees.
“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,” Wilson said.
Young and Wilson noted that poor offensive spells can happen, but the defensive failures can’t.
“It’s an effort thing. We come out and it seems flat every night,” Young said. “You saw the pace that they were playing at, and we didn’t match that. … The biggest thing is just being aggressive on the defensive end, you know, being physical.”
Hammon won two challenges for incorrect foul calls, and Fever coach Stephanie White drew a fourth-quarter technical for showing frustration with the officials.
“I thought they were grabbing and holding us. So it’s a rugby match, and my team doesn’t want to play rugby back,” Hammon said. “There has to be some fight back if they’re going to allow that kind of physicality. … But they busted our ass in every kind of way. It’s one of the worst games I’ve ever seen.”
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.
