Aces hit road, looking to iron out some kinks

The Aces turned in their worst offensive performance of the season Tuesday, one featuring bricked shots, air balls and a 31.4 shooting percentage.

Yet they still defeated the defending WNBA champion Seattle Storm 60-56.

“They want to be a championship ballclub or compete for the championship, you’ve got to be much more mentally tougher than we are presently right now,” coach Bill Laimbeer said. “I’ll take the win. Lucky that we won. … But it’s clear that we have some mental toughness issues that we have to find, quickly.”

The Aces (6-4) didn’t practice Wednesday and play Thursday night at the Los Angeles Sparks, who are working through their own issues under first-year coach Derek Fisher.

Here are three things to watch as the Aces look to bounce back on the road.

1. Liz Cambage

The 6-foot-8-inch center was one of the few bright spots Tuesday, playing to a game

high plus-16 in 30 minutes. The Aces worked through her during several anemic offensive stretches, and she responded with a team-high 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting to go with 13 rebounds and three blocks.

She also got to the free-throw line six times and hit key baskets against a stout Seattle defense.

The Sparks don’t have a lot of size outside of 6-7 rookie center Kalani Brown, who didn’t play Sunday in a loss against the Phoenix Mercury. If she sits again, Cambage will have a considerable size advantage that might be worth exploiting.

She’s averaging 14.3 points and 7.4 rebounds.