The Dallas Wings were defeated by the Atlanta Dream on Friday night, losing by a final score of 100-78. Dallas played as hard as they could despite difficult circumstances, as the Wings only had eight available players for the game due to injuries. Paige Bueckers was able to play despite initially being listed as questionable due to an illness. Despite battling the illness, Bueckers was still able to record a 16-point, 10-assist double-double — matching her career-high for most assists in a game at the WNBA level.
“Team just being heavy in the paint, heavy, like, congesting on my ball-screens, so being able to play out of an advantage and my teammates being aggressive once I get the ball out of my hands and playing to those advantages,” Bueckers told reporters after the game. “They did a great job.”
Bueckers last recorded 10 assists in a contest against the Minnesota Lynx on May 21 — a game that saw Minnesota narrowly defeat Dallas by a final score of 85-81. The fact that Bueckers was able to match her career-high on Friday night despite the aforementioned illness is impressive without question. The Wings came together and played as well as they could considering the difficult circumstances.
Maddy Siegrist also played well, matching a career-high of her own with 23 points.
“Maddy, of course, just being aggressive on both sides of the floor,” Bueckers continued. “Getting out in transition, playing to post-ups, playing just one-on-one basketball and scoring… matchup nightmare. She's a bucket… We need that aggression from her and that's what she does every single night.”
Dallas' next game is scheduled for Monday night in Minnesota against the Lynx. Given all of the injuries, the Wings will welcome a couple of days off before their next contest.
