Paige Bueckers missed four consecutive games and didn’t even need to rust a rust.
Bueckers was fresh out of the first outing of her short professional career as she led Dallas’s wings in a Friday evening battle against the Aces hosts in Las Vegas.
Bueckers filed 35 points out of 13 shots out of 19 during the loss of Dallas 93-80 route against the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday. She made five points at 3 points and joined Caitlin Clark (2024) as only recruits in the history of the WNBA to have at least 35 points and five treys in a single match.
The explosion occurred after Bueckers missed three games with a concussion and another due to a disease.
“I mean, I came back from a break and I have the impression that I could have used more my voice, being more disruptive, crushed the glass,” said Bueckers about his room. “So, as I put my wind under me, I will be better in these areas. But as I said, just trying to contribute in other areas and anything that looks like a given night and will try to put all my effort on this subject.”
The Wings (1-10) lost six consecutive games when entering the shock with the Aces (4-4), which should be without triple Wnba A’ja Wilson league due to a head injury.
Wilson took a hard nose elbow during the defeat of Las Vegas 97-89 against the Los Angeles Sparks on a visit. She withdrew with 1:17 to do in the third trimester and did not come back.
Wilson collected 13 points but only reached 2 of the 12 shots against Los Angeles. She also had eight rebounds, five assists and four blocks.
The biggest problem for ASs against sparks was their defense. Los Angeles made 15 of the 18 shots (83.3%) – including 7 out of 8 on a 3 -point range – in the first 14 minutes while building an advance of 39-19. Overall, Los Angeles pulled 56.9%.
Jackie Young equaled her career with 34 points and Chelsea Gray added a summit of season 28 for Las Vegas.
“We score 89 points and we only had two good offensive production evenings: Chelsea and Jackie. Everyone was stinking,” said Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon, after the second consecutive defeat of the team. “The bench was a stinking. But 89 points should be enough to win a match. You can’t give up 50 points at halftime. We are still looking for this 40-minute match. It’s like a fucking unicorn.”
The Friday competition is part of the commissioner’s cup competition, and the two teams are at the bottom of the Western Conference. The aces are sixth at 1-2 and the wings are the last at 0-4.
– field level media
