Paige Bueckers and the Wings loss reshapes the WNBA playoff picture with the postseason race heating up
Dallas has won more matches this season than in the previous two seasons combined
With the WNBA regular season wrapping up this week, all 15 teams have just one or two games left and the eight clubs already in the playoffs still do not have their seeding locked.
At the top, the Minnesota Lynx ( 32-10 ) and Golden State Valkyries ( 31-11 ) are fighting for the No. 1 seed. One more Lynx win in their two remaining games against the Indiana Fever would give Minnesota the league’s best record for a second straight year.
Below them, the picture is messier. The New York Liberty and Dallas Wings both dropped their latest games and now sit together at 26-17, sliding toward a first-round date with one of the top teams instead of climbing into a more favorable spot.
Bueckers’ 30-Point Night Not Enough as Dallas Slips in the Standings
Paige Bueckers poured in 30 points and added seven assists on Monday, but the Dallas Wings still fell 87-86 to the Phoenix Mercury on Kahleah Copper’s layup with 2.4 seconds left.
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak and hurt Dallas’ shot at a top-six seed . The Wings have been in the postseason for weeks, and that alone marks a real step forward: Bueckers has guided them back after three seasons out of the playoffs .
She is averaging 20.8 points and 5.9 assists in 2026, set a franchise record with 853 points this year , and Dallas has already won more games this season than it did in the previous two combined. Still, the chance to move up vanished after the Liberty also lost earlier Monday to Atlanta.
If the season ended today, the Wings would be the No. 7 seed and open in San Francisco against Golden State.
Even a finale win over the last-place Seattle Storm (8-35) on Wednesday might not be enough. One more Liberty victory plus wins from the Washington Mystics and Fever could drop Dallas to eighth. Whoever they draw, the first-round series will be a grind.
