Aces coach Becky Hammon didn’t sugarcoat her reaction to Las Vegas’ 81-54 loss to the Fever on Thursday.
Hammon said “we got our ass kicked” by Indiana — who was without Caitlin Clark due to a groin injury — and it was “one of the worst games” she’s ever seen.
“That’s a complete lack of professionalism to come here with that effort,” Hammon said after the road loss at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, per ESPN. “They played better yesterday in practice by a lot. 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.”
Hammon also ripped her team’s defense and lack of physicality.
“They were in the paint [getting] downhill layups all night. I don’t really have any answers for you,” she said. “The effort and the focus just were not there. I thought they were grabbing and holding us, so it’s a rugby match. My team doesn’t want to play rugby, so we get our ass kicked. There has to be some fight back if they’re going to allow that kind of physicality. My team has to step up and match that physicality, period.
“One team is fickle, and one team is not. One team is three steps behind, one team is not. They got all the 50/50 balls. They busted our ass in every kind of way. There’s just no bones about it. It’s one of the worst games I’ve ever seen.”
After beating the Lynx in the Commissioner’s Cup final Tuesday, Indiana snapped a 16-game losing streak against the Aces that dated back to 2019.
Las Vegas struggled on both ends, shooting 26.2 percent from the field.
Three-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson had 29 points, while the rest of the Aces scored in single digits and shot just 7-of-43.
Las Vegas guard Jackie Young was their second-leading scorer with six points.
Meanwhile, the Fever’s Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell combined for 45 points.
Making the Aces’ effort all the more concerning is that they put forth this effort while not even having to worry about Clark.
The Aces (8-9), sitting in eighth place in the Western Conference, face the Sun, Liberty and Mystics on an East Coast road trip before returning home to host the Valkyries on July 12.
They then face the Wings in Dallas before the All-Star Break.
The Fever have a four-game home stand before back-to-back road games against the Sun at TD Garden in Boston on July 15 and the Liberty at the Barclays Center on July 16.