How to Watch Dallas Wings vs. Los Angeles Sparks: Paige Bueckers Nears History, Wings Eye Defensive Bounce Back in LA

The Dallas Wings close their West Coast trip on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Sparks in the second matchup between the two teams in less than a week. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. CT at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, with the game airing locally in Dallas-Fort Worth on KFAA29 and streaming out of market on WNBA League Pass.

The Wings (9–26) are looking to bounce back after a 106–87 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday. Maddy Siegrist set a new career high with 23 points to lead Dallas. The Sparks (16–18) are also coming off a loss, falling 95–86 on the road to the Washington Mystics despite 26 points from Dearica Hamby.

Dallas and Los Angeles last met on Friday at College Park Center, where the Wings lost 97–96 against the Sparks. Paige Bueckers led all scorers with 29 points and became the fastest rookie in franchise history to reach 500 points. The teams will meet once more this season on Sept. 7 in Los Angeles.

Playoff stakes are on the line: Dallas will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss.

How to Watch Dallas Wings vs. Los Angeles Sparks

Date: Wednesday, August 20
Time: 9:00 p.m. CT
Location: Crypto.com Arena — Los Angeles, CA
TV: KFAA29 (Dallas-Fort Worth)
Streaming: WNBA League Pass (out of market)
Live Stats: stats.wnba.com
Social Media Updates: Follow @DallasWings and @DallasWingsPR

Dallas Wings Injury Report

• Arike Ogunbowale: Out (Right Knee Tendinitis)
• Li Yueru: Out for Season (Left ACL Sprain)
• Tyasha Harris: Out (Left Knee)

Ogunbowale has missed the last three games while being treated for tendinitis in her right knee. Li Yueru was ruled out for the season following an ACL sprain on Aug. 15. Harris continues to recover from her knee injury and remains sidelined.

Los Angeles Sparks Injury Report

• Nothing to Report

Looking Back at the Last Matchup

The Wings and Sparks met just five days ago in Arlington, where Los Angeles escaped with a 97–96 victory. Bueckers poured in a game-high 29 points on 12-of-21 shooting with five assists, while Siegrist added 15 points and three rebounds. JJ Quinerly came off the bench to post 11 points and a team-high nine assists, while Myisha Hines-Allen provided 9 points, seven rebounds, and three assists in 19 minutes.

For the Sparks, Kelsey Plum led the way with 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting and five assists. Dearica Hamby added 20 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double, while Azurá Stevens and Rickea Jackson each chipped in 15 points. Julie Allemand filled the stat sheet with 12 points and 10 assists, helping LA shoot 44% from deep as a team (11-of-25).

Despite trailing by as many as 16 points, Dallas stormed back in the second half to make it a one-possession game in the final seconds before falling short.

Hines-Allen said the defensive breakdowns in the first half left Dallas playing uphill.

“Like when we actually played defense, we were getting stops and were able to run and get easy points in transition,” Hines-Allen told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “Live-ball turnovers — like in the first quarter we gave them probably seven, and in the second half we gave them probably two back-to-back. Those are key swings for them where they can get easy points.”

Luisa Geiselsöder added that Dallas must sustain its best stretches longer.

“I think the end of the game when we fall back, when we had our intensity that we wanted — that is the standard we want to hold each other up to,” Geiselsöder emphasized to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “There were positive ways to attack them, and I think we just need to consistently do that during the 40 minutes and then also adapt when they adapt.”

Offensive Momentum on Display

Despite their struggles in the standings, Dallas has shown encouraging offensive growth. The Wings have recorded two consecutive games with 38 made field goals. Only four teams in WNBA history have made 38 or more in three straight games — a mark the Wings can reach with another strong shooting night in LA.

The team’s ball movement has also clicked. Dallas tallied 58 assists over its last two outings, the third-best two-game total by any team this season. Minnesota’s 60 assists remain the high water mark, but the Wings’ recent stretch shows clear progress in creating quality looks.

“The offense looked great,” head coach Chris Koclanes told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “We pushed pace, moved the ball side to side, and exploited mismatches. When they were in drops, we screened well and got into the paint. When they switched, we attacked. We didn’t hit from the arc or get to the line enough, but we made 38 field goals with 26 assists. Our spacing and ball movement are encouraging. Now we just need a defensive identity.”

Koclanes also underscored the margins from the last Sparks game.

“Number one, our defense,” Koclanes explained to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “Looking for us to establish a physicality defensively and really just execute a little bit better, minimize some of our slippage… We need to finish possessions better — we gave up 15 offensive rebounds for 15 second-chance points. So just cleaning up on the margins a little bit.”

Adversity Mounts With Injuries

The Wings’ adversity continues with the latest season-ending injury setback to Li Yueru and the announcement of Arike Ogunbowale being re-evaluated in a few weeks. Already without key players for extended stretches, Dallas players have combined to miss more than 90 games this season due to injuries or EuroBasket commitments. With multiple season-ending injuries, that number projects to climb near 120 by season’s end.

As a result, the Wings have played over 70% of their games with 10 or fewer players available and more than 30% with nine or fewer.

“Youth. We’re a resilient group,” Maddy Siegrist said. “They told us yesterday we’ve only played so many games with nine players. Just being able to say, ‘Okay, onto the next, we still have a job to do tonight.’ Keeping that every day, whether practice or games. With so many young players, it helps — it’s like, next play, we’ve got a game today, onto the next.”

Paige Bueckers Reaches Another Rookie Milestone

Bueckers continues to add to her historic rookie campaign. She poured in 29 points and six assists in Friday’s one-point loss to the Sparks, then followed with 18 points (8-of-18 FG, 0-of-2 3Pt, 2-of-2 FT), five rebounds, four assists, and one steal in Sunday’s 106–87 loss to the Aces. The effort extended her streak of double-digit scoring to all 28 games of her rookie season.

With Friday’s performance, Bueckers became the fastest rookie in franchise history to surpass 500 points, doing so in just 27 games. She also set the Wings’ all-time rookie record for assists (146). Her scoring average of 18.8 trails only Ogunbowale’s 2019 rookie mark of 19.1 and ranks eighth in WNBA history among rookies. She is now 104 points shy of Ogunbowale’s franchise rookie scoring record (630).

“Paige was amazing, just getting downhill and putting pressure on the rim,” Hines-Allen told DallasHoopsJournal.com after the Sparks game. “She was attacking, attacking, attacking. I saw that dog in her today. She really opened things up for the rest of us with how aggressive she was.”

Maddy Siegrist’s Career Night in Las Vegas

Since returning from a knee injury on Aug. 5, Siegrist has emerged as a steady scoring threat. She is averaging 16.2 points per game on 61% shooting across her last six outings. On Sunday, she poured in a career-high 23 points against Las Vegas, showcasing her ability to score from the mid-post, in transition, and beyond the arc.

“Right away, just hasn’t missed a beat,” Koclanes told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “She’s been really aggressive. At the wing position, taking her defender to the rim and challenging them to guard her in the post because she is so efficient around the rim. It’s really tough to block her shot. She loves her turnaround, she keeps the ball high, so when she gets within eight feet of the hoop, the ball’s going in 70% of the time. I’ve appreciated her relentlessness in transition and her smartness to bring good matchups to the rim.”

Siegrist said her time with Athletes Unlimited before the season prepared her to adapt to Dallas’ shorthanded rotations.

“Just put me in a lot of different roles, which is good because with injuries you’re playing a little bit of three, four, or five every night,” Siegrist said to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “That definitely helped me a lot, just being comfortable in whatever role, offensively and defensively.”

She also pointed to her growth in confidence and defensive toughness.

“I feel like handling the ball, shooting the ball when you’re open — those are confidence things,” Siegrist detailed to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “The more you prepare, the better you feel. And then guarding the ball, fighting through screens, that kind of thing.”

Teammates have taken notice of her versatility.

“Maddy’s a bucket,” Haley Jones told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “Her mid-post game is huge. She can hit the three, but she’s relentless on the boards. She makes tough shots — that fadeaway is hard to guard. She just scores in so many ways.”

JJ Quinerly Extends Rookie Guard Playmaking Surge

Quinerly continues to emerge as a playmaker. She tallied a career-high nine assists in Friday’s loss to the Sparks, joining Bueckers as the only rookies this season with eight or more assists in a game.

“Just my teammates,” Quinerly said to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “They were moving well without the ball, and I definitely found Lou a couple times trailing at the three or popping, which she’s good at. Then just trying to figure out where the rest of my teammates are, their favorite spots on the court, where they want to shoot from, and just learning them.”

Quinerly is now one of just four third-round picks in WNBA history to average at least six points and two assists per game while shooting over 40 percent from the field in her rookie season.

Defensive Execution in Focus

While the Wings’ offense has surged, their defensive struggles have been costly. Against Las Vegas, they surrendered 18 made threes — the most ever by a Dallas opponent — while LA’s size and rebounding advantage proved decisive in Friday’s one-point loss.

“We’ve got to be better defensively,” Koclanes emphasized to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “Looking for us to establish a physicality defensively and really just execute a little bit better, minimize some of our slippage. We need to finish possessions better — we gave up 15 offensive rebounds for 15 second-chance points. So just cleaning up on the margins a little bit.”

Hines-Allen agreed that limiting turnovers and controlling the glass are crucial.

“Picking up our intensity on the defensive side of the ball is definitely going to be a key to success,” Hines-Allen said to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “Live-ball turnovers — like in the first quarter we gave them probably seven, and in the second half we gave them probably two back-to-back. Those are key swings for them where they can get easy points. If we can slow them down defensively and just get stops, we’ll be in a good place.”

Geiselsöder pointed out that with Yueru sidelined, every player has to step up physically inside.

“Li was a big presence down there, so we have to try to find a different way to get that presence,” Geiselsöder detailed to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “Now we don’t have a big player down there who can grab the ball easily with the size advantage. So we just have to work harder now — box our matchups out and then grab that ball.”

More Dallas Wings News & WNBA Rumors

• WNBA News: Dallas Wings’ Li Yueru Out for Season With ACL Sprain, Arike Ogunbowale Has No Timetable With Knee Tendinitis
• WNBA News: “Li Was a Big Presence”: Li Yueru Out for Season With ACL Sprain, Dallas Wings Adjust Before Los Angeles Sparks Rematch
• WNBA News: “Our Spacing and Ball Movement Are Encouraging”: Arike Ogunbowale Sidelined With Knee Tendinitis as Dallas Wings Offense Surges
• WNBA News: “We’ve Got to Be Better Defensively”: Dallas Wings Overwhelmed by Las Vegas Aces’ 18 Threes, A’ja Wilson in Loss
• WNBA News: “It’s About How You Contribute to Winning”: Paige Bueckers Breaks Dallas Wings Rookie Assist Record, Fastest to 500 Points
• WNBA News: “I Saw That Dog in Her Today”: Paige Bueckers Shines but Dallas Wings’ Late Rally Falls Short vs. Los Angeles Sparks
• WNBA News: “Paige Will Be a Unifier”: Curt Miller Details Dallas Wings’ Roster Plan Around Paige Bueckers