The Dallas Wings had quite the injury scare on Sunday night with star guard Paige Bueckers.
Bueckers exited the July 19 contest against the Los Angeles Sparks early after she appeared to hit the back of her head on the court after Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike accidentally landed on Bueckers after being fouled.
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The initial fear was that Bueckers had suffered a concussion, which left her status up in the air before evaluations could be done.
The Wings have since provided an update on Bueckers that contains more good news than bad ahead of the Monday night contest against the New York Liberty.
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Is Paige Bueckers playing tonight?
The Wings announced that Paige Bueckers will not play against the Liberty on Monday night.
Thankfully, Bueckers has been cleared of a concussion, but she is still feeling soreness and the Wings are erring on the side of caution, as they should with their best player.
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“Paige Bueckers will not play in tonight’s game against the New York Liberty,” the Wings said in a statement. “While Bueckers was cleared from having a concussion following an extensive post-game evaluation, and is not currently in the League’s concussion protocol, she will miss tonight’s game while dealing with soreness.”
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After their meeting with the Liberty, the Wings have one more game on July 22 before the All-Star break.
It remains to be seen if Bueckers will suit up for that contest against the Portland Fire and, as of now, her status is up in the air for the WNBA All-Star Game, too.
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That said, considering the fact that she’s just dealing with soreness, Bueckers probably has a better chance than not to play in the All-Star Game on July 25.
Impact of Paige Buecker’s absence on Dallas
There is no replacing Paige Bueckers and her absence is a massive blow to the Wings’ chances of beating the Liberty.
Not only is Bueckers the Wings’ best player, she’s one of the best players in the league.
Bueckers is a dynamic scorer, as evidenced by her 20.9 points per contest, which ranks fourth in the WNBA, and she’s an elite distributor and a top-notch rebounder for a guard.
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Buckers’ 6.2 assists per game ranks sixth in the league, and her 4.2 rebounds per is seventh among all guards.
The Wings are going to need significant contributions from multiple players in order to even come close to filling Bueckers’ shoes.
