After uncharacteristically dropping two of their last three games, the host Las Vegas Aces are looking to get back on track against the Portland Fire in each team’s first game after the All-Star break.
A’ja Wilson poured in 38 points against the Washington Mystics in the Aces last game on July 22. However, the Mystics managed to erase a nine-point deficit in the final four minutes to steal the victory at home. The Aces’ previous loss on July 12 was among their most humiliating of the season, a 109-75 defeat to the Indiana Fever at home, in which only Wilson and Jackie Young reached double-figures in scoring.
“The key for us is when we don’t defend, we lose,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said after losing to the Mystics. “Giving up 100 points, a 29-point fourth quarter, we’re not going to win those games. We’re 0-3 when we do that. In our losses, we give up 95 points, so the defense wasn’t good enough … We’re not where we want to be, obviously. Until we start playing defense, we’re not a serious team. We’re just not. We have to play that end of the floor.”
The Aces have faced the Fire twice this season and both matches were in the Rose City rather than on the Strip. Wilson dominated both meetings, scoring 32 points in both a 105-89 thrashing on June 11 and in a closer 88-80 effort on July 9. Carla Leite led Portland in scoring in both games, with 18 in the first meeting and 13 in the second.
“I think last time with Vegas they were really deliberate to basically make sure our pick and roll handlers weren’t getting downhill into the paint,” Fire coach Alex Sarama said. “I think we just have to be more deliberate with the spacings we’re getting to and then our cover solutions, if we know that something’s being taken away.”
Leite is the Fire’s top scorer this season, averaging 15.3 points along with six assists per game. It’s been a tough start for the first-year expansion team in Portland, which began the season 6-6 but has lost 10 of its last 15 games. The Fire went into the All-Star break on a two-game losing streak, allowing 101 points in back-to-back games against the Minnesota Lynx and Dallas Wings.
Poor defensive efforts have been a pattern for the Fire all season, as they rank 13th out of 15 teams with 90.6 points allowed per game. Meanwhile the Aces rank third in the league offensively with 91 points per game.
–Field Level Media
