Becky Hammon did not dress it up after the Las Vegas Aces let an eight-point halftime lead turn into a 95-87 loss to the Dallas Wings on Thursday night.
“Nothing. Our defense sucked,” Hammon said. “Give up 50 points in the second half.”
That became the story after Las Vegas dropped its second straight game and fell to 4-3. The Aces led 53-45 at halftime, but Dallas won the second half 50-34 and closed the game with a 23-15 fourth quarter.
The Wings improved to 5-3 behind a triple-double from Jessica Shepard, who finished with 22 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists.
Slippage turns into a collapse
Hammon said the Aces did a “nice job” in the first quarter. After that, she said the problems started to stack.
“Then you just have slippage, and that slippage compounds, and you don’t have enough timeouts to even stop the bleeding,” Hammon said.
The Aces had control for long stretches. They led by as many as 13 and were up eight at halftime. However, Dallas kept cutting into the game through Shepard, Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, and by the end of the third quarter, the game was tied at 72.
Then the Wings took over.
Shepard, the player Hammon had warned about before the game, became the hub of the Dallas offense. Hammon said before tipoff that the Aces could not allow Shepard to “quarterback the game,” but Shepard controlled the glass, scored inside and kept the ball moving.
Meanwhile, Fudd made her first career start count with 22 points, and Bueckers added 20 points and six assists.
Hammon puts it on the Aces
Hammon did not credit the loss only to Dallas’ execution. She put most of it on her own team.
“No, I mean, it was us,” Hammon said. “We made those mistakes. We made those choices. We were late on actions.”
Hammon said the Aces lost contact, lost physicality and missed the defensive details that had to carry them on the road.
“We got off bodies,” Hammon said. “They started slipping, and the physicality, the pickup points, there was slippage, and that’s not a team you want to do that on.”
Dallas shot 49 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3-point range. The Wings also went 19-for-22 at the free-throw line.
Las Vegas shot 44 percent and committed only five turnovers, so this was not a giveaway game in the usual sense. Instead, Dallas beat the Aces with execution, rebounding and late-shot control.
The whistle becomes part of it
Hammon also unloaded on the free-throw gap.
Dallas attempted 22 free throws and made 19. Las Vegas attempted 12 and made seven. The individual numbers were what bothered Hammon most.
A’ja Wilson attempted one free throw in 35 minutes. Jackie Young attempted none in 33 minutes. Chennedy Carter attempted none in 19 minutes. Together, Wilson, Young and Carter combined for one free-throw attempt.
By comparison, Jessica Shepard went 6-for-6 at the line, Awak Kuier went 4-for-4 and Alysha Clark went 3-for-4.
“The other thing, I mean, A’ja Wilson shoots one free throw. Kennedy Carter, zero. Jackie Young, zero. I’m fucking tired of that bullshit,” Hammon said.
Hammon said she was not arguing that Dallas failed to earn its trips to the line. However, she made clear she did not think Las Vegas received the same whistle.
“I’m not saying they didn’t earn their 22 down there, but when a Walker shoots more free throws than A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young and Kennedy Carter all combined, that’s a problem,” Hammon said. “And we’re not getting the same whistle.”
Then she added one more line.
“Give me my fine.”
Aces face another reset
The loss came five days after Las Vegas gave up 101 points to the Los Angeles Sparks. After giving up 95 more to Dallas, Hammon said the Aces cannot keep allowing that kind of number and expect to win.
“Anytime we give up 95 to 100, my team is probably going to lose,” Hammon said. “And until we figure that out, we’ll continue to lose until we want to play defense for 40 minutes.”
Wilson led Las Vegas with 21 points and seven rebounds, but she shot 10-for-24. Young scored 15 after going scoreless in the previous two games, and Carter added 14 off the bench, continuing her record-setting start as a reserve.
Still, the Aces did not get enough stops. That was Hammon’s point.
Las Vegas had the halftime lead. Dallas had the second-half force. And afterward, Hammon made clear that the Aces’ next step is not complicated.
They have to guard longer than they did Thursday.
Up next
The Aces continue their road trip Sunday, May 31, against Golden State at Chase Center.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
