‘We’re getting closer’: Aces erase deficit, sink Clark, Fever — PHOTOS
For a brief moment Sunday at T-Mobile Arena, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark stood still and tilted her head back — a show of frustration in reaction to Aaliyah Nye’s third 3-pointer, which the Aces rookie confidently dribbled into in transition and shot over Clark’s outstretched hand.
The shot, made with eight minutes and 40 seconds left to play in front of a sold-out crowd, meant the Aces had successfully overcome a 10-point deficit to take their first lead since the first quarter.
After the Aces held on for an 89-81 win with the help of a 31-point fourth quarter, coach Becky Hammon was reminded of her statement that the search for a start-to-finish effort was like looking for “a damn unicorn.”
“We’re getting closer,” Hammon said when asked if this was the 40-minute game she’d been looking for.
“Hopefully this gives us a taste of what it takes to win games in this league. … You can’t play half a game and expect to win, or three quarters and expect to win. You got to put a full 40 together. And I think we’re learning what that takes.”
Three-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson had 24 points to lead the Aces (6-7). Jackie Young recorded 19 points and seven assists, and Chelsea Gray added 18 points.
Aliyah Boston had 26 points for the Fever (6-7), while Clark had 19 points.
Here are three takeaways from the win, which ended a three-game losing streak:
1. Wilson keeps shooting
While Gray answered a question about the energy fans provided, Hammon entered the media room with a joke.
“It’s an early ask on a Sunday. Thank you for getting out of bed,” Gray said, leading Wilson to agree.
“You woke up in the second half,” Hammon playfully told Wilson as she took her seat.
It was a dig at Wilson shooting 2-of-13 from the field in the first half but closing with 18 second-half points.
When asked how she overcame the difficult early showing, Wilson credited her teammates for trusting her.
“I think my hands are screwed backwards, so I had to put them back together at some point in the end,” Wilson joked. “Nobody’s gonna be perfect, I’m not gonna always be whatever people want me to be. Never gonna be that. But when my teammates rally behind me, I’m not even worried about it.”
2. Clark slump
In a shooting slump that lasted for the entire game, Clark went 1-for-10 on 3-pointers. She’s now 1-for-17 from deep over the past two games, but her skill as a facilitator still hurt the Aces early. She recorded six assists in the first quarter and finished with 10.
“Until you feel Indiana’s pace live, sometimes it’s hard to understand how fast they play,” Hammon said. “And we talked about Caitlin. Pockets are her money. You give her any kind of space in that pick-and-roll, the ball is gone, and they’re getting layups.”
Hammon said that since the Aces struggled to defend the pick-and-roll in the first quarter, she shifted them to a different defensive scheme by the first timeout.
The Aces swept the Fever in four regular-season games last year and have not lost to them since 2019. They play again July 3 in Indianapolis.
3. Overcoming interior scoring
The Aces now rank last in the league in defending points in the paint, giving up an average of 39.2 interior points per game. That number was increased by the Fever scoring 52 points in the paint to the Aces’ 40 on Sunday.
Eighteen of those interior points came in the first quarter, as the Aces ended the period trailing 21-20. While they weren’t able to fully stop the bleeding, the Aces adjusted to protect the paint in subsequent frames.
Wilson took responsibility for the interior defense but added that the team struggled to execute its scheme.
“It comes with time,” Wilson said. “This is a new group, and chemistry doesn’t happen overnight. And we’re going to understand it. But I think that was the biggest thing, was just understanding our system with it when it came to pick-and-rolls.”
Hammon avoided disparaging the Aces’ defense, which forced Clark into two fourth-quarter turnovers to close the game.
“I saw a dig-in factor, a gritty factor, that I haven’t seen in the third and fourth quarters,” Hammon said. “I saw them dig in with each other. So that’s really a good sign for when you’re trying to build team trust and consistency.”
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.
