Despite Paige Bueckers scoring 21 points, her teammates failed to rally around her as the Golden State Valkyries dismantled the Dallas Wings on Sunday in their first playoff win. The gap was stark, as Bueckers outscored all of her teammates combined in the first half, while the Wings struggled to match the Valkyries’ high-paced play. WNBA journalist for The IX Sports, Drake Keeler, wasted no time in highlighting this grim reality for Dallas’ supporting cast.
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“Terrible stuff from Wings players not named Paige Bueckers. The second-year guard has 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting. Everyone else? 4-for-19. Open threes being airballed. Defense very rough as well. Valkyries lead 44-28,” wrote Drake in an X post.
It’s hard to disagree with Drake. The Valkyries outpaced the Wings comprehensively in the first half, outscoring Dallas 37-11 in the second quarter itself. Golden State converted half of their 20 shots from beyond the arc to take a 58-31 advantage at the break.
After losing their number one pick from this season’s draft, Azzi Fudd, to an injury in the first week of August, the Wings have primarily relied on Bueckers’ fine form to finish the season on a high. She is averaging 20.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.0 steals per game this season.
However, Bueckers turned up the heat in the last eight games of the season, averaging 22.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 6.4 assists, in a stretch that saw Dallas win seven of the eight games they played. This 7-1 run had Bueckers and the Wings’ fans hopeful of what lay ahead.
“Very excited. It’s what you play for — to be able to play in the postseason, to play for something that means so much,” Bueckers said. “To be able to do it with this squad, I’m looking forward to it.”
However, the Wings’ struggle against the Valkyries in the regular season (they have lost all three of their matchups) carried over in the first game of the postseason as well, as they fell 104-80 when the final buzzer went off.
Cecilia Zandalasini, continuing her fine form from the FIBA World Cup for Italy, scored 22 points, shooting 7-for-11 from the field, with four three-pointers. Tiffany Hayes added 21 points coming off the bench. Gabby Williams, the World Cup’s Defensive Player of the Year, added 20 points, and Veronica Burton finished off with another 10 points. This game saw the Valkyries score their most points ever, gathering as much as a 36-point lead at one point.
Paige Bueckers went 9-for-10 from the field, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, while adding six rebounds for Dallas. Maddy Siegrist and Kitija Laksa added 11 points each, while guard Arike Ogunbowale finished with 10 points, a drop-off from the 16.2 points she averaged over her last five outings.
The Wings lacked efficiency in their shooting from beyond the arc, registering a three-point percentage of just 30%, as compared to the Valkyries 50%. Their FG% was also lower, at 47%, compared to the Valkyries’ 49%.
Game 2 of this best-of-three series will be hosted in Dallas on Wednesday. If Dallas wins and levels the series, Game 3 will be held on Friday back at Chase Center. Winning the series finale in front of “Ballhalla” would be an uphill task for Bueckers and Co.
“Ballhalla’s part of us,” Valkyries HC coach Natalie Nakase said, per AP.
After losing the series against the Minnesota Lynx last season, failing to win any game in the 0-2 sweep, the Valkyries have shown their intent right at the outset this season.
“When we’re awake, we’re ferocious on defense,” Nakase added.
The Valkyries boast the best defensive rating in the league, at 99.1, allowing an average of only 75.1 points scored against them. In contrast, the Dallas Wings have allowed an average of 85.3 points per game.
The Wings will hope for a turnaround in the next game and hope that the rest of the team beyond Bueckers is able to find their shooting efficiency, especially from three. Earlier in the season, Bueckers registered a perfect 6-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc, and ended up tying the WNBA record for 3-pointers made without a miss. The Wings need a similar performance from Bueckers in the next game as well.
More than Paige Bueckers, the Wings need the rest of the squad to buck up and play as they did during the final few regular season games.