A'ja Wilson Explains How Early-Season Woes Have Taught Aces to 'Punch Back'

A 70-68 loss to the Washington Mystics on July 10 put the Aces at 9-11 and out of a playoff spot entirely. At the time, Las Vegas had the third-lowest output in the league, averaging just 79.0 points per game.

The Aces strung together a pair of wins, taking a .500 record into All-Star weekend, but their struggles weren't behind them yet. On July 25, head coach Becky Hammon voiced her frustrations to the media after a 31-point loss to the Minnesota Lynx, lambasting her squad's 'atrocious' defense and poor communication.

Fast forward a month, and there's hardly anything to criticize. The Aces are 14-1 since July 27, boasting the third-best scoring defense and fifth-best offense in that span.

"In the beginning of the season, getting torched -- you touch that stove and you know it's hot," star center A'ja Wilson reflected after Wednesday night's victory over Atlanta. "I think we've learned our lesson, and we've been in so many different situations throughout this season that we now know how to punch back."

Wilson's impact cannot be overstated. Pacing the WNBA with 26.8 points and 2.0 blocks across Las Vegas' 12-game winning streak, the seven-time All-Star headlines the most dominant show in town.

A'ja Wilson-Led Aces Poised For Postseason Success

With Wilson playing at an MVP-level, Las Vegas seems well-equipped to handle whatever the postseason throws their way.

Adversity and postseason basketball go hand in hand -- and the Aces have already faced their share this season.

"We know how to weather storms," Wilson emphasized. "That's probably something we didn't really see and have in the beginning of the season."

Wilson's remarks evoke a criticism Hammon leveled in late July, following that 31-point loss to Minnesota.

"The greats handle hard well. We have not handled hard well."

At the time, it was hard to argue with Hammon's blunt assessment.

A blockbuster offseason deal saw Kelsey Plum shipped away after seven seasons and two WNBA championships with the Aces. In came another two-time champ, Seattle Storm guard Jewell Lloyd, but the transition was far from seamless.

With Las Vegas reeling from the departures of Plum and assistant coach Natalie Nakase, now heading the Golden State Valkyries, the result was an inconsistent first half from an organization that had made excellence the standard.

But now the Aces have done more than just 'handle hard well' -- they've turned adversity into an advantage with the postseason looming.

"Once you get torched a couple times and once you get that feeling of like being down and having to grind out wins, that's what playoffs is all about, that's what postseason is all about," Wilson added. "We've learned our lesson from the beginning of the season, and we don't wanna go back there."

They're far from the only team to navigate through obstacles this season. Thanks to the league's mounting injury problem, nearly every potential playoff team has had to overcome some adversity.

Still, few teams have rebounded as emphatically as Las Vegas. It's hard to think that anything will rattle the Aces this postseason.