At 8-24 and sitting at No. 12 in the NBA standings, the Dallas Wings have had a less-than-ideal 2025 season. They haven’t won since July 28 against the New York Liberty and are currently on a five-game losing streak.
They have certainly been missing their star rookie Paige Bueckers, who has scored in double-digits every game this season. She is averaging 19.6 points — seventh among all players — 4.0 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game. Despite the successful rookie campaign, she has missed a fair amount of games this season.
Earlier in the season, she suffered a concussion and missed four straight, in which the Wings went 0-4. Bueckers then missed one game due to a knee injury and most recently took a game off to rest.
WIth health back on her side, Bueckers briefly left on the Wings’s Aug. 5 road game against the New York Liberty with a back injury. She returned and finished with21 points on 4/5 shooting, 8 assists, and 4 rebounds in 31 minutes.
After the game, she said of her back: "I'm alright. I just got it checked out. I think I just pulled a muscle. Felt a strain, felt it tighten, so just gotta get it worked out."
She missed the next days’ practice and was eventually downgraded to not playing on Aug. 8. But, Bueckers suited up and played 32 minutes at home against the Washington Mystics on Sunday, dropping 17 points on 5/9 field goals with 3 assists and 3 rebounds.
Bueckers is currently listed as day-to-day (back) for the Wings’ Tuesday night matchup against the Indiana Fever.
Paige Bueckers becomes the fastest player since 1997 to reach 450+ PTS & 100+ AST. pic.twitter.com/1A1KXvotLG
— Real Sports (@realapp_) August 10, 2025
We will miss another chance to see Paige Bueckers against Caitlin Clark
The game will also be missing another star: Fever guard Caitlin Clark.
Clark began this season as the betting favorite to win MVP, but has missed a total of 20 games due to three different injuries.
The 2024 Rookie of the Year injured her groin on July 15 and has not played since. Listed as out for Tuesday's game, ESPN’s Injury Tracker says she could return on August 15, when the Fever host the Mystics.
Caitlin Clark has started doing more full court running and endurance work but has not returned to practice yet according to coach White pic.twitter.com/fqptY1uMQ0
— Clark Report (@CClarkReport) August 11, 2025
The Fever are currently 18-14 and have won six of their last 10 games. With just 12 games left to play in the regular season, they could make a push for the No. 4 seed — the Phoenix Mercury are 1.5 games ahead of them at 19-12.
The regular season ends on Sept. 11 and the playoffs start on Sept. 14.
Regardless of their seeding, the Fever will certainly want their star back for a postseason push. In 13 games, she’s averaged just 16.5 points and 8.8 assists. A drop-off from her rookie season for certain, though her offensive rating when she does play is a staggering 108.6.
Clark never missed a game due to injury during her entire college career or first WNBA season.