Back-to-back WNBA champions the Las Vegas Aces suffered their third loss of the season tonight. In their second WNBA Commissioner Cup encounter, the rampaging Seattle Storm handed the home team a 78-65 loss. Consequently, this is the second occasion this season when they could not defend their home court at the Michelob ULTRA Arena. And clearly, head coach Becky Hammon isn’t pleased at all with her team’s efforts. Additionally, there is one area in which she expects them to make significant improvements.

At the halfway point, the hosts were trailing the Storm by 8 points. At this time, the 47-year-old was asked to reflect on the struggles in the first half. To which she replied, “Play defense. We’ll worry about the offense when it comes but our defense sucks.” Although the Aces were struggling in their game offensively, their defense let them down even more. The Storm were able to secure 36.1% of their field goals and were 6-20 from beyond the arc.

Moreover, the halftime talk didn’t really have an impact. Seattle had 36 points in the first half and they improved it to 42 points in the second half. In addition to this, the Aces had 14 turnovers, which was one more than the visitors. Meanwhile, the Aces grabbed 36 rebounds whereas their opponent’s tally was 43. The defense has been a problem for them the entire season. Despite being the No.1 ranked team in terms of scoring, they are conceding an average of 80.7 points in every game which places them 7th overall in the league.

The loss surely delivers a reality check to their three-peat aspirations. Nonetheless, there were still some positives that the franchise could take from this defeat.

A’ja Wilson becomes the lone warrior for Becky Hammon yet again

The 2023 WNBA Finals MVP A’ja Wilson tried her best not to let the Aces’ ship sink. Her 36 minutes on the hardwood produced a fantastic double-double that included 29 points and 11 rebounds. Moreover, this is the 13th-straight time that Wilson has crossed the 20-point mark which ties her with Diana Taurasi with the most consecutive 20-point games in the WNBA regular season history.

Her offensive impact was clearly visible with an 8 of 20 effort from the field and a conversion of 13 out of the 14 free throws. The loss will obviously sting the defending champions for some time.

They were completely outplayed in every department as apart from the third quarter, the hosts didn’t have an upper hand the entire night. Fans will be hopeful that they bounce back and address their gray areas soon enough.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.