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Aces struggle offensively in loss to Minnesota Lynx

The Aces have been the best offensive team in the WNBA all season, equipped with six double-figure scorers. They boast the league’s top offensive rating and lead in points per game.

You wouldn’t have known it Friday night, though.

For the second straight game, Las Vegas sputtered amid a lack of energy, ball movement and player movement in the halfcourt. As a result, the Aces committed 15 turnovers, shot 36.4 from the field and fell 77-67 to the Minnesota Lynx.

A crowd of 4,291 at Michelob Ultra Arena that included sporting icons Lisa Leslie, Tommie Smith and Floyd Mayweather watched, thoughall-star center Liz Cambage did not play for the first time this season because of a commitment to the Australian national team. The Aces missed her on both ends of the floor.

But they did not play with the energy necessary to beat any WNBA team, much less a team of Minnesota’s caliber, per coach Bill Laimbeer.

“That’s probably as bad of a game as we’ve played all year long,” he said. “The effort level we put forth tonight was not acceptable. … We just didn’t have the intensity level necessary to win.”

The Aces (14-6) also sported the league’s best defensive rating, but they were a step slow Friday in the first quarter. The Lynx pick and popped their way to uncontested jumpers, converting 7 of 8 triples to put Las Vegas at a 33-17 lead.

The 33 points are the most the Aces have allowed in a first quarter this season, and they began switching ball screens to ensure that shooters wouldn’t roam free around the perimeter. But they weren’t crisp offensively, allowing the Lynx to control the flow and tempo in the ensuing three quarters.

Several of the Aces’ turnovers were unforced — the byproduct of a lazy pass or a miscommunication. Many of their shots were contested against a cohesive defensive effort by the Lynx (11-7), who have won six consecutive games.

Kelsey Plum scored a team-high 18 points and A’ja Wilson added 13 points. Kiah Stokes started in place of Cambage and secured a game-high 12 rebounds.

Layshia Clarendon collected 18 points and nine assists for the Lynx, who became the first WNBA team to win a game without attempting a free throw.The Aces play at the Dallas Wings on Sunday in their final game before the Olympic break.

“We’ve been in a tough stretch. We’re playing every other day. We’ve had three overtime games. We’ve been traveling,” Plum said. “When we play good offense and we move the ball well, then higher percentage shots happen and we’re able to knock those down.

“We just have to lock in and make shots.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.

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