Paige Bueckers to miss another game as Storm welcome Wings
After an off day for the WNBA on Monday, the Commissioner's Cup continues Tuesday with the Dallas Wings traveling to the Pacific Northwest to face the host Seattle Storm. It's a matchup of two teams bringing multi-game losing streaks into the WNBA's annual in-season tournament.
At 1-6, the Dallas side is on a two-game losing streak with a pair of defeats to the Chicago Sky in the span of three days. The Wings fell by five points on Thursday night, but lost even more when rookie star Paige Bueckers sustained a concussion that prevented her from playing in Dallas' 94-83 Sunday defeat. That began a mandatory two-game absence per the WNBA's concussion protocol, meaning Bueckers will not suit up Tuesday against the 3-4 Storm.
NaLyssa Smith was a bright spot for Dallas on Sunday with a team-high 20 points with five rebounds and three blocks, but the Wings' offense struggled without Bueckers whose 6.7 assists per game is fourth highest in the WNBA.
"I think we've got to find that tempo that we can be successful at. You're not playing with a true point guard in that lineup, so you had all sorts of different people bringing the ball up," said Wings head coach Chris Koclanes. "It was just a little clunky at times."
Dallas' roster overhaul in the offseason, initiated by new general manager Curt Miller, meant the Wings expected bumps early in the season, but a current league high three-game losing streak for the Storm is unexpected.
On May 30, Seattle had an 11-point lead against the Atlanta Dream in the first half but were outscored 60-42 in the second half. Then, on Sunday, the Las Vegas Aces jumped to a 27-17 lead after one quarter and did not look back in a 75-70 defeat for the Storm.
"We don't have an excuse with this kind of roster," said Storm forward Gabby Williams. "Showing how we start on defense because that is supposed to be our strength and that's supposed to be the thing that we can rely on even if shots aren't falling, we should be able to rely on our defense, so if our defense is lacking it's going to be really, really hard to win the game."
With Bueckers out, Dallas will have trouble defending Seattle guard Skylar Diggins, who is averaging a career high 6.6 assists per game and having her best scoring season since 2022 at 17.9 points per game.
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