MINNEAPOLIS — Paige Bueckers led the Dallas Wings with 23 points on Tuesday night, but afterward the second-year guard turned the focus to the defensive standard her team has to meet following a 100-76 loss to the Minnesota Lynx at Target Center.
The result snapped the Wings’ four-game winning streak and dropped Dallas to 7-4 on the season. Minnesota outscored the Wings 46-26 in the paint, and Bueckers said cleaning that up starts with how Dallas defends as a group.
Reading Minnesota’s Paint Dominance
Bueckers traced the Lynx’s interior edge to their ball-screen actions and the threats they created on the short roll.
“I think their ball-screen actions. They do a really good job of setting them up and having threats in the short roll and around the basket, whether it’s Olivia, Courtney, or Kayla,” Bueckers said. “We have to do a better job of packing the paint, making them spray the ball out, and forcing contested threes.”
A Call For Connectivity
The fix, Bueckers said, is for the Wings to defend as one connected unit.
“We also have to make second efforts, fly around, scramble, and help each other out. The low man has to be over, and we have to move as one unit defensively,” Bueckers said. “It comes down to having more connectivity on that end of the floor.”
She also credited Minnesota’s defense with discipline, calling the Lynx a heavy-nail help team that takes away the paint.
“They’re really disciplined with their positioning. They’re a heavy nail-help team, so they pack the paint,” Bueckers said. “They do a great job of keeping teams out of there and forcing tough, contested mid-range shots.”
Setting The Standard
As the team’s floor general, Bueckers held the group, and herself, to the standard she expects, pointing to discipline in executing the scout against a player like Olivia Miles.
“When you’re guarding her, the main focus is keeping her out of the paint and keeping her on one side of the floor. We didn’t do that tonight,” Bueckers said. “We weren’t disciplined enough in executing our game plan, our schemes, and our scout. We have to be more disciplined, and it starts with me.”
She was equally direct about her own night, framing it as an area to sharpen rather than dwell on.
“I felt like I was over-penetrating at times or overthinking simple reads,” Bueckers said. “I need to be quicker, more assertive, more aggressive, and do a better job of getting us into the paint.”
Looking Ahead
With another game in less than 48 hours, Bueckers said the quick turnaround is an opportunity, not a burden.
“Tonight happened, but you can’t let it become a habit or something that carries over from game to game,” Bueckers said. “We’ll take this one in, learn from it, grow from it, watch the film, and digest everything. But we also know we have an opportunity to respond on Thursday and be better.”
Up Next
The Wings return home to host the Phoenix Mercury on Thursday at College Park Center. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. CT, with the game streaming on Prime. It is the first meeting of the season between Dallas and Phoenix.
