The Las Vegas Aces aim to re-establish their defensive identity in their first game after the WNBA All-Star break, hosting the Portland Fire on Friday.
Las Vegas dropped two of their last three contests before the break, including a late collapse against the Washington Mystics on July 22.
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The Mystics erased a nine-point deficit in the final four minutes to win.
That defeat followed a 109-75 loss to the Indiana Fever on July 12, where only A'ja Wilson and Jackie Young scored in double figures for the Aces.
Hammon Calls Out Defense
Head coach Becky Hammon did not mince words after the Washington loss, pointing directly at defensive breakdowns.
"The key for us is when we don’t defend, we lose," Hammon said.
She noted that allowing high point totals has been a losing formula. "Giving up 100 points, a 29-point fourth quarter, we’re not going to win those games.
We’re 0-3 when we do that. In our losses, we give up 95 points, so the defense wasn’t good enough."
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Hammon added, "Until we start playing defense, we’re not a serious team. We’re just not.
We have to play that end of the floor."
Previous Matchups
Las Vegas swept both earlier meetings this season in Portland.
Wilson scored 32 points in a 105-89 victory on June 11 and repeated that total in an 88-80 win on July 9.
Carla Leite led the Fire with 18 and 13 points in those games.
Portland enters the contest ranked 13th out of 15 WNBA teams defensively, allowing 90.6 points per game.
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The expansion franchise holds a 6-6 early record but has lost 10 of its past 15 games, entering the break on a two-game losing streak after allowing back-to-back 101-point performances against the Minnesota Lynx and Dallas Wings.
