Aces’ title defense gets off to rocky start in loss to Mercury

The euphoria from the Las Vegas Aces’ triumph in 2025 was still apparent from the Ring Ceremony.

The energy from the crowd was apparent as the players, coaches and fans celebrated a season that was dotted with highs and lows. However, the expectation was to turn the page immediately after the opening tipoff, with the need for resilience being demanded for the adversity that lay ahead

After Saturday, it will not take long for the Aces to have to tap into that resilience, as the Phoenix Mercury took revenge against the defending champions in emphatic fashion with a 99-66 victory.

“We’re averaging giving up 31 points in the first quarter over the course of our two exhibition games and this game, and that’s just not good enough,” said Aces head coach Becky Hammon after the game.

“We’re digging out of a hole. That puts pressure on your defense, your offense. Just a little bit of a snowball effect.”

Locked in the freezer

For a team that emphasized defense during training camp and the preseason, it was the offense that would serve as the primary culprit for the blowout.

The Aces would stall out on far too many offensive sets, only scoring 24 points in the second and third quarters combined (for context, the Mercury scored 29 and 27 points in those quarters alone.) A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young would do most of the heavy lifting on offense with 19 and 12 points, respectively. NaLyssa Smith (11 points) and Chennedy Carter (10 points) would also hit double digit points, but some of their contributions would come in the fourth quarter with the game already decided.

“I thought there were times when we just caught and held the ball,” said Hammon about her team’s offensive struggles.

“We could’ve shot the ball, we could’ve drove the ball, but instead, we just analyzed. You get slow when you analyze too much. I thought there were some threes that we passed up…I feel we had space to shoot. It’s not like they were running us off the three-point line. We got to have people step up and hit some shots, obviously, and that will come.”

Little too generous

If the shots would not fall for the Aces, they would too often end up in the hands of the Mercury.

The Aces would cough up 17 turnovers in the game, more than all but two games last season. Six Aces would be responsible for multiple turnovers, with Chelsea Gray and Carter leading with three apiece.

“We haven’t played basketball together as a whole since October, so it’s going to take time to get on time and on target, no matter how long we played with each other,” said Wilson about the team chemistry. “That doesn’t mean we don’t trust each other, because I trust these ladies with my life, but it’s just on-court timing.”

The other side

Unfortunately, defense would not offer much of a reprieve either.

All five starters for the Mercury would hit double-digit points, and Kiana Williams would make it six with 11 points off the bench. As a team, the Mercury would shoot nearly 50 percent both from the floor and beyond the three-point arc. Alyssa Thomas would lead the way with 20 points (along with nine assists and six rebounds) and Jovana Nogic exploding in her WNBA debut with 19 points.

“I feel like we just kind of weren't overly prepared for her to come in and be that effective in the game,” said Smith about Nogic’s performance.

“I feel like that's just a point of focus for us, where we have to take every single player on the on the team serious, like there's nobody that can't play basketball. We are here for a reason, so just giving everybody that respect and not letting them have nights like that.”

The Aces now begin the season with serious questions to answer, and they will not have to wait long for an opportunity to answer when they head out west to face the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday.

“I get it 100 percent. We’ve been in this situation where we’ve had a long offseason, and you’re just like ‘I don’t care who’s in front of us this first game, we have to redeem ourselves,’” said Wilson. “It was obvious that played a huge factor in tonight and we understood that we just didn’t hold up our end of the bargain, which is crazy, but we got another time to do it again tomorrow.”