The Dallas Wings (20-15) fell to the Indiana Fever (22-12), 98-87, in a premier Friday night road matchup. In the midst of their injuries, the shorthanded Wings kept it competitive throughout most of the game against another playoff-bound team led by Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston.
The Wings once again missed Azzi Fudd (knee) and Jessica Shepard (ankle) in this matchup. Aziaha James (leg) joined the growing injury report. Here are Jose Fernandez’s comments on the trio’s absences before tonight’s
matchup.
Paige Bueckers led the Wings tonight with 29 points, with the Fever’s Clark matching her with 29 of her own.
The Wings showed grit through the first half after coming into the game down three players. Indiana struggled to get its offense going in this half thanks to the grueling defense of Awak Kuier. The Wings were able to keep Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell at bay through the first half, with the pairing entering the intermission with 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Dallas was able to keep their head above water heading into halftime, leading 37-35.
The Fever came into the second half swinging, led by Clark and Kelsey Mitchell, with the Wings having no answer for either in this quarter. The Fever pushed an 11-3 run before the Wings had to call a timeout down four. Dallas punched back coming out of the timeout, led by big shots from Paige Bueckers and Maddy Siegrist, shifting the momentum back in Dallas’ favor with a 60-58 lead. The Wings continued to hold on to the lead heading into the fourth as Bueckers continued to take over the quarter, up 66-63. Indiana practically put a lid on the basket for the Wings to start the fourth quarter and went on a run of their own, giving the Fever control of the game. Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale tried to give Dallas their last breath of fight before Mitchell put the nail in the coffin for the Fever.
Here are three takeaways from the Wings’ loss.
Big day for Awak Kuier truthers
Awak Kuier has shown that she deserves to be in a bigger role for the Wings, and tonight was another showing of her gritty defense. Her size and length (7’ wingspan!) make her a defensive threat for the Wings, and it’s quite perplexing to look back at the fact that she has not had a consistent role for the Wings this year. She finished with eight points, six rebounds, four assists, and three blocks, and can be credited to Indiana’s slow start tonight.
Dallas has shown a desperate need for rim protection since day one, yet Kuier’s minutes have been sporadic, including several single-digit-minute games. Kuier has shown, amidst Shepard’s absence, that she can provide impactful minutes for the Wings, specifically in an area that has long been their Achilles’ heel.
Every game matters
Dallas walked into tonight’s matchup behind the four-and five-seeded Dream and Fever by just 1.5 games. The bottom half of the playoff picture is within two games of one another. With the season’s conclusion approaching quickly, playoff positioning can make or break your first-round matchup. The Wings were unable to close down the stretch, becoming a recent thorn in everyone’s side. Every matchup matters; therefore, execution is critical in these close games, especially with teams that you are fighting for positioning with. Tonight’s loss puts Dallas in sole possession of the eight-seed with nine games left and a little bit of breath left to gain some ground.
Paige Bueckers’ dominance
It feels like it has been far too long since we saw a game from Paige Bueckers where she looked like the best player in the league after her mini pre-All-Star injury bug, but tonight she put Dallas on her back and completely took over at times. When Bueckers is looking to score, there is an extremely short list of names that can stop her. With another Wings player added to the injury list, Bueckers knew she would have to go into her bag tonight, and the Fever had no choice but to punch back because, again, she can’t be stopped. She finished with 29 tonight, and though the Wings’ efforts fell short, her performance tonight couldn’t go unrecognized.
Up next
The Wings are back in action Monday night, when they continue their mini road trip to San Francisco to face the second-seeded Golden State Valkyries at 9 p.m. CT on Peacock.
