Five games left, three and a half between third and eighth
Dallas sit eighth. New York sit seventh, half a game ahead. Only three and a half games separate the third seed from the eighth in the WNBA standings, which makes the Wings’ meeting with the Connecticut Sun in Arlington on Sunday worth rather more than the visitors’ record suggests.
It is the last game either side plays before the two-week shutdown for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, which opens in Berlin on Sept. 4. Paige Bueckers travels to Germany with the United States, Kennedy Burke with Turkey.
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Dallas found something in August
Tuesday’s 96-78 win over Portland clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2023 and set a franchise record for wins in a season since the move from Tulsa to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex ahead of the 2016 campaign. Three wins in a row. Four in six.
Bueckers put up 22 points and 11 assists in that game, the seventh time in eight outings she has led the team in scoring. Jessica Shepard added 21, Arike Ogunbowale 17, and Awak Kuier finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds for her second double-double of the year.
Bueckers traced the run back to habits rather than talent. “(We) just put action behind our words,” she said. “We all know how to play. But to really apply what we were talking about and do it on the court, even just watching film and our connectivity on defense, and holding each other accountable more, having the tough conversations. That’s what kind of stepped into our growth.”
Connecticut are already playing for 2027
The Sun (10-29) are out of the playoff race and out of Connecticut, with the franchise relocating to Houston for 2027. They arrive in Texas after a 111-91 defeat to Indiana on Friday, having lost four of five, sitting 14th in a 15-team league and two games clear of Seattle with five to play.
Diamond Miller scored 19 in that loss and rookie Nell Angloma came off the bench for a career-high 17. Aaliyah Edwards and Hailey Van Lith added 12 apiece.
Coach Rachid Meziane has changed the brief accordingly. “We want to develop them,” he said of his younger players. “We want to give them some minutes to express themselves. We need to assess players for the future.”
Dallas have won both meetings this season, by three points on the road in July and by 20 at home on Aug. 2.
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