Fans flocked to see the much-anticipated showdown between Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers on Friday night. Instead, it turned into the Kelsey Mitchell show. The Indiana Fever guard exploded for 23 points, leading her team to a convincing 88–78 win over the Dallas Wings. While the Fever cruised to victory, the Wings didn’t go down without a fight.

Rookie sensation Paige Bueckers continued to impress, putting up 22 points in a spirited performance. But it wasn’t enough to close the gap, and with this loss, the Wings’ playoff hopes now sit on the brink of extinction. After the game, Dallas Wings head coach Chris Koclanes didn’t hold back. Speaking at the postgame press conference, he squarely pointed to the team’s defensive shortcomings as the root of their struggles.

When asked about why the team lagged in getting defensive rebounds, Koclanes minced no words. “Well, when you get beat at the point of attack, now you don’t have a good rebounding position. So, the better you are initially in a defensive possession, the better your defensive rebounding positioning is. So, if we can’t win at the point of attack with our physicality, then all five need to get in there and war it up,” he said.

Koclanes elaborated that the team’s defensive issues start at the perimeter. According to him, the Wings’ guards are getting beaten too early in possessions, forcing the post players to rotate over to protect the rim. In contrast, the Fever’s post players faced little resistance and were free to operate as they pleased. Because Dallas struggles to contain dribble penetration one-on-one, they’re forced to send two defenders to the point of attack. This leaves gaps behind the ball and creates a defensive imbalance that opposing teams continue to exploit.

Wings’ head coach urged his team to find answers quickly, as the Fever outrebounded them by 14. “The teams are so good in this league, right? Offenses are so good. You have to work so hard to get stops and then rebound,” he said, emphasizing the level of effort required on the defensive end. While Koclanes expressed his frustration with the team’s performance, rookie Paige Bueckers remained optimistic, offering nothing but praise for her teammates.

Paige Bueckers praises team effort despite 10-point loss to Fever

Despite the loss to Indiana, Bueckers remained upbeat. She highlighted that the Wings are still a relatively new team, often playing with different lineups each game. In her view, the fact that they’re staying competitive and pushing teams in tight contests is a sign of growth. “We’re building reps,” she said, emphasizing the long-term value in their current struggles, “I think it will only help us in the long run and make us better.”

The 23-year-old rookie continued her impressive campaign, finishing with 22 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals against the Fever. Even her opponents acknowledged that containing her was crucial to their victory. Indiana’s leading scorer, Kelsey Mitchell, praised her teammates for their collective effort in slowing Bueckers down. “Being able to take Paige Bueckers out of certain shots is effort,” Mitchell said. “You look at players like Teaira McCowan and Li Yueru, those are not small players, they’re big players. And that’s effort from our bigs: DD, AB, TSH. I think it’s an effort all the way.”

While Bueckers managed to shine against Indiana’s tight defense, the rest of the Wings’ roster struggled to find its rhythm. She was the only player to score in double figures, with the next highest contribution being just 9 points. Even veteran guard Arike Ogunbowale had an off night, converting only one field goal in the entire game. The Fever’s defense held Dallas to just 40.6 percent shooting from the field and limited them to only two made three-pointers. They also dominated the paint, holding the Wings’ bigs to just four offensive rebounds. With this season’s playoff chances looking meek for the Wings, it will be interesting to see how Paige Bueckers & co bounce back to their feet.