Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Becky Hammon Assigns Blame for Aces' Loss to Caitlin Clark-Less Fever

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Kevin Borba | Last updated Jul 3, 2025 11:55 PM ET

Having won the last 16 meetings between the two teams and the Indiana Fever being short-handed, Thursday's game seemed like it was the Las Vegas Aces' to lose.

Well, the Aces ended up doing just that, in blowout fashion.

Although 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark was sidelined for a fourth-straight game with a groin injury, and the Fever popped plenty of bottles after their WNBA Commissioner's Cup Championship on Tuesday, they still won 81-54.

The Aces struggled to get anything going on offense, shooting just 26.2% as a team from the field, and 18.8% from deep. Defensively, they were eaten alive in the pain, as the Fever outscored them 38-20.

However, when Aces' head coach Becky Hammon addressed what went wrong, it wasn't the shooting or the defense. Instead, Hammon cited the team's effort as the biggest issue, according to Moreua Sports.

"That’s a complete lack of professionalism," Hammon said via Moreua. "That's a complete lack of focus… I don't know how you step on the court with 20,000 people in the stands and perform like that."

Hammon later put her team on notice, expressing the need for them to have more urgency.

"It’s really hard to know as a coach what team you’re getting on a given night… you have to come with your engine started," Hammon said.

With the loss, the Aces have now fallen to 8-9 on the year, and have looked like anything but the dominant team that many expected them to be. They will get a chance to bounce back on Sunday against the Connecticut Sun, who have the worst record (2-15) in the WNBA.

Until then, the team may need to do some soul searching.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: