It was a big night for the Dallas Wings. Their star rookie, Paige Bueckers, finally made her WNBA regular-season debut. She was solid in her first real outing as a pro, putting up 10 points, seven rebounds, and two assists in thirty minutes.
Her debut was somewhat spoiled by the 99-84 loss and the Wings’ defensive shortcomings, though. Last season, the Wings finished the regular season with the worst defensive rating in the league. Despite trading for defensive standout DiJonai Carrington this offseason, the Wings’ defense didn’t look much improved yet in the team’s season opener.
The Wings struggled to stop Minnesota’s offense
Dallas allowed Minnesota to score 99 points—the highest mark of the WNBA season so far. 81 of those points came in the first 30 minutes. The Lynx were shorthanded too, missing two starters. They were without sharpshooter Kayla McBride and All-Defensive Second Team selection Alanna Smith.
The main problem was that the Wings let the Lynx get into the paint for easy shots and struggled to guard the 3-point line. Particularly, the two-man game between Napheesa Collier and Courtney Williams gave the Wings issues.
Collier scored 34 points, and only six of those came from the 3-point line. Meanwhile, Williams scored 25 points and dished out nine assists. The two ran strong pick-and-roll actions, but Collier was also able to make her way to the basket without it. On top of that, Jessica Shepard scored 15 points, converting five of her seven field goal attempts in the paint.
The Wings must improve defensively if they want to compete
The Wings had plenty of good moments in this game. They dominated in the fast break, scoring 21 fast break points compared to Minnesota’s eight. New additions Myisha Hines-Allen and DiJonai Carrington both scored in double-figures and showed what they will be able to offer the Wings throughout the season.
After two quarters, the game was still tied, but the Lynx won the third quarter by fifteen points. Ultimately, the Wings were no match for one of the best teams in the WNBA. That is not entirely surprising. While the Wings still have a superstar in Arike Ogunbowale, they lost Satou Sabally and Natasha Howard in the offseason and didn’t replace them with other All-Star-level players. This is a young team with plenty of new players and a new coach. It will take some time for the Wings to find their rhythm.
Nevertheless, the ultimate goal for Dallas should be to be competitive as soon as possible, preferably even this season. After all, they didn’t enter a full rebuild despite having the top draft pick. If the Wings want to be truly competitive this season, they will have to improve defensively. Just one game is no reason to panic yet and the Wings have plenty of time to improve.