The Las Vegas Aces were a shadow of their dominant identity on Sunday against the Indiana Fever. With A’ja Wilson out of the rotation due to a right ankle injury, the Aces conceded an 84-68 blowout at home. Following the game, WNBA analyst Rosalina Lee pointed fingers at Wilson’s absence as a possible reason for this defeat.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“The offensive rebounds for the Aces tonight were just terrible,” Lee said on her YouTube channel. “They were 6-13. So, Indiana Fever on the glass, getting offensive rebounds, got 13. The Aces got 6. Defensive rebounds 26-24. Overall, they just dominated on the glass over the Aces. And that’s something that A’ja Wilson does for the team and pays off in dividends.”
The Las Vegas Aces’ over-reliance on A’ja Wilson for dominance on the glass has been prevalent throughout the season. For instance, Wilson currently leads the team with 9.4 rebounds and 1.9 offensive rebounds per game, as per ESPN. The next best in the list is Nalyssa Smith, who contributes with 6.5 rebounds.
No wonder the Indiana Fever game was a perfect example of the Aces’ struggles without Wilson. Behind Wilson, the Aces have been formidable on the glass this season. But against the Indiana Fever, the Aces couldn’t produce much.
That’s when they fell well below the pecking order against the Fever, as Rosaline Lee stated in her assessment. Indiana defended well on loose balls near the rim and capitalized perfectly on second-chance opportunities behind Aliyah Boston (10 rebounds) and Monique Billings (6 rebounds).
Meanwhile, the Aces had just 4 second-chance points in the game, a season-low for the franchise. It crippled their momentum completely. To be honest, this isn’t a one-off incident either. Even in the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup finals, the Aces got dominated on the glass by the NY Liberty without A’ja Wilson.
Without Wilson’s physicality and gravity on the court, the Las Vegas Aces struggled massively on the offensive and defensive ends against Indiana on Sunday.
The Aces allowed the Fever to take 70 shots, while they themselves took just 55. Without Wilson, the team’s leading scorer, the Aces scored 40% from the field against the Fever, their second-lowest this season, according to the Aces’ official website.
These numbers give a clear reflection of how the Las Vegas Aces struggle without A’ja Wilson in the rotation. Aces head coach Becky Hammon doubled down on it further in the post-game presser.
“I mean, we’ve had to play small a little bit more,” Hammon said. “We’ve had to scrap. But it’s not just A’ja’s points, it’s her gravity, it’s her pull, it’s how her presence gets other people open.”
With this defeat, the Las Vegas Aces are now 1-2 in the last three games without A’ja Wilson. However, the silver lining for the Aces is that Hammon has remarked that Wilson’s injury isn’t a long-term issue. It suggests that the team can expect Wilson back in the rotation soon.