The Dallas Wings (20-16) return home to face the Indiana Fever (24-12) Thursday night at their future stomping grounds, the American Airlines Center. The matchup marks a rematch of the Wings’ 98-87 loss from Friday night in Indiana and is the final matchup between the two squads as the season concludes. Dallas has bowed out of seven of the last 10 games, with their most recent blunder at the hands of the Golden State Valkyries.
The Wings sit firmly in the eighth seed, one game behind the Washington
Mystics, and holding a 4.5-game lead on the Portland Fire. With eight games remaining, Dallas needs to gain ground on the Mystics and Liberty to secure a more favorable matchup in the playoffs, as the Lynx and Valkyries are two teams you don’t want to face in the first round.
Here are three things to note ahead of the matchup with the Fever.
Azzi Fudd injury update
Well, we initially thought that Azzi Fudd’s knee injury was trending in the right direction. That, however, does not appear to be the case. The team released a statement on Wednesday afternoon stating that Fudd would undergo a season-ending arthroscopic procedure to address ongoing right knee soreness.
Aziaha James has been sidelined since the Tempo game due to a leg injury, and we haven’t been provided with an update on her yet, also as of Wednesday afternoon. While one will be expected over the next few days as Dallas has a six-game homestand, it would be hard to imagine she is close to returning after not traveling with the team. Coming home allows the Wings an opportunity to get and stay healthy as the push towards the season’s end progresses. A healthy team can allow them to bounce back from their recent skid and unlock their offense again.
Slow Indiana’s offense down
In their Friday night matchup, Dallas was able to slow down the Fever’s offense in the first half and keep the game competitive. Awak Kuier, starting in this matchup, completely shook up Indiana coming into the game. She was everywhere defensively, and the Fever had no counter for her length and size. She had three blocks in the first half, and then suddenly had her leash yanked by Head Coach Jose Fernandez throughout most of the second half. If Fernandez sees it best fit that Kuier comes off the bench with Jessica Shepard’s return on Monday, she must play significant minutes in this matchup if Dallas wants any chance to slow down Indiana, as the Fever are the hottest offensive team in the WNBA. Don’t let Indiana come alive as they did in the second half, with Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell taking over for the Fever, or match their energy.
Paige Bueckers + Caitlin Clark = Must-See TV
Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark put on a show last Friday, both finishing with 29 points each, completely taking over at times for their teams. Bueckers had a 13-point third quarter, and Clark went toe-to-toe with her with 17 points of her own in the quarter. The Wings are bound to have their hands full with Clark’s offensive gifts. If her shot’s not there, she’s going inside and setting her teammates up. With the amount of defensive attention she demands, her talents as a playmaker allow her to open up opportunities for teammates like Mitchell and Aliyah Boston. Bueckers will look to come into this matchup looking to put on a show in the nationally televised game at the AAC, and any opportunity we have to see two offensive gifts to the game go head-to-head cannot be taken for granted.
How to watch
Catch the action at 7 p.m. CDT on Prime Video and locally on KFAA-TV.
