DALLAS — During player introductions at the Chase Center on Sunday night, the ferocious Golden State Valkyries home crowd, nicknamed “Ballhalla,” booed every Dallas Wings starter — except for Paige Bueckers.
Bueckers, who famously rides for her teammates, probably didn’t appreciate that difference in reaction, but it was a bit prophetic. In her WNBA playoff debut, the second-year standout looked like she had been there before.
The 24-year-old recorded a pristine 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting and grabbed a team-high six rebounds in just three quarters of play against the top defense in the league, which has keyed on her all season. Bueckers finished a perfect 2 for 2 from behind the arc, hitting tough bucket after tough bucket in the deafening arena.
“There’s not a silent voice in the crowd, so it’s tough to play here,” Bueckers said postgame. “But as a competitor you kind of love that.”
Bueckers’ finesse often silenced the Chase Center, but her performance couldn’t overcome the play of her teammates, who didn’t meet the moment in a 104-80 blowout loss to open the best-of-three series.
The Wings stayed within one possession to open the game, ending the first quarter down 21-20. By halftime, when the Wings trailed 58-31, Bueckers had 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting. The other four starters combined for 14 points, and the bench had contributed none.
Wings forward Jessica Shepard, who recently earned AP Most Improved Player honors, went 0 for 7 from the floor and scored no points. Veteran guard Arike Ogunbowale contributed 10 points on 2-of-7 shooting, and center Awak Kuier was 1 for 5 from the field.
As a team, Dallas finished 28 of 60 from the floor and 6 of 20 from 3-point range. The Valkyries shot 36 of 74 from the field and 18 of 36 from behind the arc.
“They’re always locked in defensively, and I think we can take something from that,” Bueckers said. “We’ve been a team that has a bad habit of letting made or missed shots dictate how we play on the defensive end, and this is the playoffs, so that’s really unacceptable.”
The Wings have struggled against the Valkyries all year, losing the regular season series 0-3. But Sunday’s loss exposed the team’s deficiencies — and revealed who willed them to their best regular season in franchise history and to the playoffs for the first time since 2023.
Bueckers, known for her unselfish and ethical play, didn’t earn a spot on the All-AP WNBA First Team, instead being named to the Second Team. The league awards have yet to come out, but it’s likely Bueckers will also land on the WNBA’s Second Team, based on chatter around the media ecosystem.
If her averages of 20.9 points and 5.9 assists or her percentages of 51.2% from the field, 41% from 3 and 87% from the charity stripe weren’t enough to convince fans and commentators that Bueckers was a first-team-caliber player this season, maybe Sunday’s outing did.
Bueckers, at the heart of the best single-season turnaround in WNBA history, proved that even on a team with veteran Ogunbowale and triple-double machine Shepard, both on million-dollar contracts, she is undoubtedly the Dallas MVP. The Wings likely wouldn’t be in this position if not for her.
Ogunbowale and Shepard, along with 2026 No. 1 overall pick Azzi Fudd, have had big individual games this season. But Bueckers has been the most consistent and has bailed out the Wings time and time again. She at one point led the league in fourth-quarter points, steering Dallas to many comebacks earlier this season.
Recognizing the threat she poses, Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase made eliminating Bueckers a focal point of Golden State’s game plan Sunday. It didn’t exactly work, but neutralizing the rest of the roster did. In some ways though, members of the team shut themselves down.
“Paige was brutally honest about that,” Wings coach Jose Fernandez said postgame. “We play a lot harder on the defensive end when the ball’s going through the basket. You do that, things like this are going to happen.”
Bueckers checked out of Sunday’s game for the first time with 4:09 remaining in the second quarter, when she had already recorded 17 points — a Wings record for most points in a half in a postseason debut. Dallas trailed 38-28 when she went to the bench.
While Bueckers returned to the court about a minute later, the Valkyries went on a 20-3 run before halftime. She and other starters did not play in the fourth quarter, as the game had become unsalvageable.
The Wings guard had a heavy load all season, even after she returned from the FIBA World Cup in Berlin, where she helped the USA Basketball women’s national team win a gold medal earlier this month.
Dallas asks a lot of Bueckers, the 2025 No. 1 overall pick and Rookie of the Year, and the Wings will go only as far as she takes them during their playoff run, which continues Wednesday at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
But even 21 points on an extremely efficient shooting night wasn’t enough. After Sunday’s loss at Ballhalla, Bueckers fell on her sword.
“We didn’t get stops, and they got whatever they wanted offensively,” Bueckers said. “A 37-point quarter is insane work. It was us not sticking to our game plan, locking in defensively. And it starts with me, so I’ve got to be better. I know that.”