The Dallas Wings will finally play their first postseason game in the Paige Bueckers era, and it would be safe to say that they would have chosen any other team but the defending champions, the Las Vegas Aces. While Bueckers and her team have numbers to support their chances should they face the Aces in the first round, Bueckers, a student of the game, is well aware of who exactly they could potentially be matched up against.
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“I don’t want to give anybody any bulletin board material. I understand the Aces are a different beast come playoff,” Bueckers said while speaking to Post W in the postgame interview. “So, regardless of what anybody’s record was during the regular season, what we were in a series, it’s a whole new ballgame.”
The Aces have overall been the better team this season compared to the Wings. However, Dallas has been dominant against them in head-to-head matchups this regular season. The Wings won the preseason matchup and two of the three times they have met during the regular season. The head-to-head stats give the Wings an edge over the Aces. But Bueckers is well-versed in how great an A’ja Wilson-led team can be in the postseason.
Las Vegas has been the best team in the league in the last five years. Since 2022, they have won three titles. Last year, the defending champions looked like they were about to crash out of the playoffs in the first round. But the Aces pushed the button late in the regular season and went on to win the title. In the three-game series in the first round, Bueckers is planning to leave it all on the floor in her first postseason series.
“Everybody in the first round is just trying to win two, but one game at a time. It’s just like it’s only a matter of two games in the first series. It’s one-one-one, and you just have to give your all,” she said. “There’s literally nothing left to give. The postseason is all about heart, toughness and mental fortitude to weather the storms.”
The opposing team to face the Wings in the first round is still not decided. The Aces and the Valkyries still have one game each left to play in the regular season. Dallas will meet the Golden State Valkyries if the latter win their last game. However, if the Valkyries lose and the Aces win on Thursday, Wings will face Las Vegas, which will take the No. 2 spot. Whichever team Bueckers and Co. face in the first round, they seem ready for the challenge.
“We’re not taking anything for granted, and we understand that teams are very very good and teams are playing their best basketball right now. We take no opponent lightly, and everybody’s trying to win a championship. So everybody’s gonna play at an extremely high level,” she added.
The Wings have been a far better team than they were last year. However, it is hard to put them over any of the top four teams, especially with a compromised roster. Azzi Fudd is missing the remainder of the season with a season-ending injury. Fudd’s absence has now compromised the Wings on both defense and offense.
Dallas is among the top five teams on both ends of the floor. They are 5th on the list in both offensive and defensive ratings this season. While the Aces have better offensive numbers, the Wings are ahead of them in defensive ratings. On the other hand, if they face the Valkyries in the first round, they will have to go against the best defensive team in the WNBA this season that plays a highly physical style of basketball.
Regardless of which team the Wings face, Paige Bueckers seems ready for the challenge.