Becky Hammon Teases A'ja Wilson Bounce Back After Playoff Loss to Fever
The Las Vegas Aces have much to clean up after an 89-73 loss to the Indiana Fever in Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals. That sentiment even extends to star center A'ja Wilson, who wasn't quite her dominant self on Sunday afternoon.
"I think she just missed, honestly. She had a lot of great looks, she just missed, and that happens," Aces head coach Becky Hammon told media postgame. "Even the greatest players have nights off where they miss."
The off night in question, a 16-point, 13-rebound double-double -- hardly disastrous, but still short of the towering bar that the 4-time MVP has set. A 27.3% clip from the field reflected her struggles, with Wilson converting on just 6-of-22 attempts.
Just three days before, Wilson had stamped Las Vegas' ticket to the semifinals almost singlehandedly, notching a playoff career-best 38 points in a 74-73 victory over the Seattle Storm in a winner-take-all Game 3.
A'JA WILSON FIRST EVER WNBA 4X MVP 🤯
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 21, 2025
Goat territory 👀
(via @ShamsCharania) pic.twitter.com/SY7RnKnlpo
She couldn't recapture that same scoring touch on Sunday, and the Aces were left looking a little flat. Las Vegas shot 40.8% as a team, but struggled from distance and failed to keep up with a high-paced Fever offense.
"It's on the rest of us to give her support on a night maybe when it's not going in," Hammon stated. "But I thought she had some good looks -- I thought all of us had some decent looks."
Aces Need Sharper Play to Best Stingy Fever Defense
Missing open looks is an easy way to fall behind, especially when facing a Fever defense that seems to be peaking in the postseason.
Indiana tasked third-year center Aliyah Boston with guarding Wilson, and it proved an effective game plan. On the day Michelob ULTRA Arena celebrated Wilson's 2025 MVP award, the 28-year-old was largely held in check, culminating in the Aces' most lopsided playoff loss since 2022.
Aliyah Boston on defending A'ja Wilson in first-quarter interview:
— Underdog WNBA (@UnderdogWNBA) September 21, 2025
"Honestly, just trying to be annoying a little bit."
Wilson shot 6-22 FG — the most missed FGA of her playoff career.
"We gotta be better for her," fifth-year guard Dana Evans voiced. "She deals with a lot. She's getting double-teamed, triple-teamed -- we have to take some pressure off of her. We have to be better in getting her easier looks. Collectively, we all have to just be better, and we will."
Evans was a bright spot in Sunday's defeat, contributing 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting off the bench. Meanwhile, it was All-Star guard Jackie Young who paced the offense with 19 points. But with Indiana's Kelsey Mitchell exploding for 34 points, the Aces lacked the requisite firepower to take the Fever the distance.
Shoring up the defense will go a long way, but there are few things more integral to Las Vegas' success than a dominant A'ja Wilson.
"I'll tell you this, she doesn't normally lay two stinkers in a row," Hammon asserted. "She's somebody who bounces back, makes the adjustments."
"I think she just missed, honestly. She had a lot of great looks... I'll tell you this, she doesn't normally play two stinkers in a row," Hammon says of A'ja Wilson's night.
— Tony East (@TonyREast) September 21, 2025
If the last two months of the regular season were any indication, Wilson won't go down quietly. Indiana should expect to have their hands full the rest of the series.
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Lou Orlando is a Fordham University alum, graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism. At Rose Hill, he covered women's basketball for the university newspaper, the Fordham Ram. In addition to calling games on 90.7 FM. The Brooklyn native enjoys bagels and thinking about random early-2010s athletes, that is when he isn't penning stories for Women's Fastbreak and Indiana Fever On SI.
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