Paige Bueckers missed four consecutive games and didn’t even need to wipe off any rust.
Bueckers is fresh off the top outing of her short pro career as she leads the Dallas Wings into a Friday night battle against the host Las Vegas Aces.
Bueckers poured in 35 points on 13-of-19 shooting in Dallas’ 93-80 road loss against the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday. She made five 3-pointers and joined Caitlin Clark (2024) as the only rookies in WNBA history to have at least 35 points and five treys in a single game.
The explosion came after Bueckers missed three games with a concussion and another due to illness.
“I mean, I was coming back from a break and I feel like I could have used my voice more, been more disruptive, crashed the glass more,” Bueckers said of her play. “So as I get my wind under me, I’ll be better in those areas. But like I said, just trying to contribute in other areas and whatever that looks like on any given night and will try to put my full effort toward that.”
The Wings (1-10) have lost six straight entering the clash with the Aces (4-4), who are expected to be without three-time league WNBA A’ja Wilson due to a head injury.
Wilson took a hard elbow to the nose during Las Vegas’ 97-89 loss to the visiting Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday. She removed herself with 1:17 left in the third quarter and didn’t return.
Wilson had 13 points but hit just 2 of 12 shots against Los Angeles. She also had eight rebounds, five assists and four blocks.
The bigger problem for the Aces against the Sparks was their defense. Los Angeles made 15 of 18 shots (83.3 percent) — including 7 of 8 from 3-point range — over the first 14 minutes while building a 39-19 lead. Overall, Los Angeles shot 56.9 percent.
Jackie Young tied her career high with 34 points and Chelsea Gray added a season-high 28 for Las Vegas.
“We score 89 points and we only had two good offensive production nights: Chelsea and Jackie. Everybody else were stinkers,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said after the team’s second straight loss. “The bench was a stinker. But 89 points should be enough to win a game. You can’t give up 50 points at halftime. We’re still searching for that 40-minute game. It’s like a damn unicorn.”
The Friday contest is part of the Commissioner’s Cup competition, and both teams are at the bottom of the Western Conference portion. The Aces are sixth at 1-2, and the Wings are last at 0-4.
–Field Level Media
