DHJ Quick Take: Dallas Wings Fall to Las Vegas Aces 99-84, Still Take Season Series
The Dallas Wings shot a season-low 2-of-21 from three-point range and never recovered from an early double-digit deficit in a 99-84 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday, though Dallas still claimed the season series, 2-1.
- How did the Dallas Wings lose? Dallas shot 9.5% from three-point range, gave up 20 points off 13 turnovers, and was outscored 31-18 by the Las Vegas bench.
- Who led the Dallas Wings? Paige Bueckers posted 25 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals, and Jessica Shepard matched her career high with 22 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
- Why does the loss matter? Dallas still won the season series 2-1, its first over Las Vegas since a 3-0 sweep in 2018, but had its three-point shooting and rebounding exposed by the defending champions.
- What’s next? Dallas hosts the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday at College Park Center at 1 p.m. CT on CBS.
LAS VEGAS — The Dallas Wings could not survive a season-worst night from three-point range or the early hole that came with it, falling to the Las Vegas Aces 99-84 on Thursday at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Dallas finished 2-of-21 from beyond the arc, gave up 20 points off 13 turnovers, and was outrebounded 35 to 24, even as the loss left the Wings with the season series, 2-1.
The result dropped Dallas to 11-7 and lifted Las Vegas to 13-5. The Wings had beaten the Aces in the first two meetings and arrived with a chance to sweep, and head coach Jose Fernandez said he knew how the defending champions would respond.
“Coming in here after beating them twice, you knew how Vegas was going to come out,” Fernandez said. “They were going to be aggressive, and I thought they were.”
Even in defeat, the 2-1 result gave Dallas its first season series over Las Vegas since 2018, when it won all three matchups. The loss was also the Wings’ first this year in a game they shot at least 48% from the field, finishing at 48.6% overall before a sellout crowd of 10,295.
Las Vegas controlled the game almost from the opening tip. Dallas led 2-0 on an early Azzi Fudd jumper, its only lead of the night, before the Aces ran off to a 15-4 advantage midway through the first quarter and carried a 28-17 edge into the second. The Wings trimmed an early 15-point deficit but trailed 49-39 at the break, with eight first-half turnovers already producing 14 Las Vegas points.
Dallas opened the second half with its best stretch, cutting the margin to 53-49 on an Aziaha James transition layup with 6:22 left in the third quarter. The Aces answered with eight of the next 11 points, pushed the lead back to 71-63 entering the fourth, and opened the final period on a 7-0 run that effectively ended it. Las Vegas led by as many as 20 and held Dallas no closer than 11 the rest of the way.
The Wings again played without forward Alanna Smith, who remains in the concussion protocol, and guard Odyssey Sims, who is sidelined with a left ankle injury.
Turnovers and a Cold Night From Deep
Fernandez pointed to the giveaways and the perimeter struggles as the root of the deficit.
“Early deficit, I thought we turned it over. That was a big issue, and we didn’t defend the three. We also fouled a three-point shooter three times,” Fernandez said. “I thought we came out after halftime and cut it to four or five possessions, but it just seemed like we could never get it to where we needed to get it. I thought their three players off the bench having 31 points was a big difference.”
The 2-of-21 mark from three was a season low, a 9.5% night that Fernandez expects to even out. The Wings made both of their threes in the first half and missed all 12 of their attempts after the break.
“We shot 2-for-21 from three-point range. We’re a lot better than that,” he said.
Paige Bueckers traced the turnover problems to the start of the game, when Dallas fell behind and never caught up.
“In transition, it started with our turnovers in the first half. I think they had 14 points off turnovers at halftime,” Bueckers said. “Cleaning that up in the second half was better, but to start the game like that and set the tone that way, I think it hurt us at the beginning.”
Jessica Shepard said the Wings spent too much of the first half reacting rather than dictating.
“In the first half we were kind of playing on our heels. We were letting them dictate what we were doing on the offensive end and just not being aggressive, which led to unforced turnovers,” Shepard said. “Obviously, that’s a large number of transition and turnover points to give up.”
Bueckers and Shepard Keep Dallas Afloat
Bueckers led the Wings with 25 points, 2 rebounds, and 6 assists, and added a game-high 3 steals on 11-of-19 shooting. It was the second-year guard’s ninth 20-point game of the season, the fourth-most in the WNBA. Shepard matched her career high with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, recording her 11th double-double of the year to tie Angel Reese for the WNBA lead.
The two combined for 47 of Dallas’ 84 points, much of it inside, as the Wings outscored Las Vegas in the paint, 52-40. Fernandez credited the team’s ball movement and mismatch hunting for the high-quality looks, even as the threes would not fall.
“I think it had to do with our coverages, us getting downhill, and taking advantage of mismatches. That’s what helped us get those high-quality twos,” Fernandez said. “But they made eight threes to our two, and they made 27 free throws to our 14. That’s a big difference.”
Bueckers said the perimeter looks were there and that the Wings will lean elsewhere on nights they don’t fall.
“I think we got great shots. We got shots in transition and within the flow of the offense,” she said. “Some nights are like that where you can’t rely on your three-point shooting, so we have to rely on our defense more.”
Awak Kuier and James each added 8 points, with James contributing 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block off the bench. Arike Ogunbowale struggled to find the range, finishing with 4 points on 1-of-10 shooting, including 0-of-5 from three, while Fudd added 7. Dallas’ reserves managed 18 points to the Aces’ 31.
Las Vegas Hunts the Paint and the Line
Bueckers said the Aces had clearly scouted Dallas’ transition game after the first two meetings and made stopping it a priority.
“I think they did a better job of stopping our transition offense. I think we killed them there in the first two games, and that was definitely a point of emphasis in their scout,” Bueckers said. “They had a hunger and a chip on their shoulder. They’re the defending champs, so it’s not something we should’ve been shocked by. We should expect that and handle it better.”
The Aces lived in the paint and at the free-throw line, attempting 33 free throws to Dallas’ 16. They also turned the extra possessions into a 10-7 edge in second-chance points and a 16-8 advantage in fast-break points. Bueckers said the Wings’ caution only made it harder to defend.
“They hunted the paint. They got to the free-throw line,” she said. “Like Jess was saying, I think we played on our heels a little bit. We were tentative. We didn’t want to foul, so we let up our physicality and our aggressive mentality.”
Fernandez said Las Vegas simply made the Wings pay for the matchups it wanted.
“I thought they made shots, for sure. Let’s start there,” Fernandez said. “They attacked some matchups they wanted offensively, and they capitalized on them.”
The Aces hunted Shepard and Kuier inside, often forcing Dallas to shuffle its defensive assignments around A’ja Wilson. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus took advantage of the rotations for 13 points off the bench, and NaLyssa Smith added 11 rebounds.
“They pose a big matchup problem. Especially when Awak did a good job guarding her, then you’ve got to move Shep over to guard Wilson,” Fernandez said. “NaLyssa Smith and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus took advantage of some of those matchups inside as well.”
What’s Next for the Dallas Wings
Fernandez found something to build on in the way Dallas kept clawing back, even after the early hole grew to 17. He drew a line from the team’s response in a 112-110 overtime win at Seattle on Monday, which opened the trip, to the way it stayed within range Thursday before the fourth quarter got away.
“I liked our fight in Seattle, especially with how Seattle shot the three and how we got back into that game and closed it out,” Fernandez said. “Today, when we got down, I thought we continued to fight and got it back to single digits and a two-possession game. But we couldn’t move the needle from there.”
The Wings close a two-game road trip needing more on both ends as they head home.
“We’ve got to be a lot better on both ends of the floor,” Fernandez said. “It’s a short-term memory. You’ve got to get ready for the next one, especially Minnesota. We’ll be off tomorrow, and then the day before the game — especially with it being an afternoon game — we’ll watch film and do as much as we can, load-wise, to get ready.”
Dallas returns home to host the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday at College Park Center. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. CT, with the game airing nationally on CBS.
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