The WNBA season is in its final quarter and the playoff race, and award races, keep heating up even more. But injuries are threatening to derail the season for multiple teams.
3 Highlights from the WNBA this week
Paige Bueckers scores 44 points: The No. 1 draft pick continues her phenomenal rookie season with a 44-point performance against the LA Sparks on Wednesday night, doing so on 17-21 shooting from the field. She becomes the 3rd rookie in league history to score 40-plus points in a game (along with Cynthia Cooper and Candace Parker), and the first player ever to score 40-plus points on 80 percent shooting from the field. She scored over half of the Dallas Wings' 80 total points in the game. Unfortunately, the game resulted in a loss for the Wings by one point to the Sparks on a heroic Kelsey Plum possession, and they were also eliminated from playoff contention. Still, Bueckers is the favorite for Rookie of the Year.
WNBA holds first international regular season game: It was a historic night in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada last Friday as the Atlanta Dream and the Seattle Storm played in the WNBA's first ever international regular season game. It was the third year of the WNBA Canada Game series, but the first time a game had been played in the regular season as opposed to the pre-season. In front of over 15,000 fans, the Dream and Storm played an electric game that came down to the final possession, resulting in the Storm breaking their losing streak with a win. It was the last one of these games before the Toronto Tempo enter the WNBA, marking the league's first international franchise. The Tempo announced mid-game that they would be returning to Vancouver in 2026 for two regular season games.
A'ja Wilson turns the Aces season around: The Las Vegas Aces have turned their season around, and a lot of it is due to the play of A'ja Wilson. In their recent eight-game winning streak, Wilson has achieved 6 double-doubles, 4 games with 30+ points, the first-ever 30-20 game in league history, and moved to 2nd all-time in career 30+ point games. In this stretch, the Aces have gone from being on the brink of losing thier playoff spot to now fighting for home court advantage.
2 Games to Watch this weekend
New York Liberty vs Atlanta Dream: Saturday August 23, 2:00pm
This game could very well decide the No. 2 seed in the WNBA playoffs. Both teams are tied up right now in record, and getting the second seed is crucial to their playoff journey. It's the difference between seeing the Lynx in the semi-finals or finals. Plus, with Phoenix and Las Vegas on their tails, every game matters in this stretch. There is only .5 game difference between No. 2 and No.5 right now. The team who wins this game gives themselves a little boost into second place.
Seattle Storm vs Indiana Fever: Tuesday August 26, 7:00pm
Okay, so this is on Tuesday, but it is also a very important game. Indiana is struggling with injury and their season is in jeopardy. The hope right now would be to survive until the playoffs, hope Caitlin Clark can come back, and let her lead the team into the postseaon. That's even if she can come back before the season ends for them. On the other hand, while the Aces have surged ahead in the standings, the Storm have slipped, landing them in the No. 8 spot at the moment. While they are much better than their record, the Storm would love to regain some playoff positioning, and playing a depleted Fever team may be a good chance to do that.
1 storyline to watch: Is Caitlin Clark out for the season?
Caitlin Clark has only appeared in 13 of the Indiana Fever's games this season. The sophomore star has struggled with injury all summer, and is currently out with a groin strain. She has not played in a game since July 15, missing the All-Star Game and every game since. At the end of July, the Fever sent out an update that Clark was recovering and there was no timeline to her return to the court.
Recently though, while there have been no official updates about Clark's return, she apparently has a new injury. She apparently suffered a bone bruise during training on August 7. While this isn't keeping her out longer than intended at the moment, given she would still be sidelined due to her groin, it's another addition to her long injury list this season. A quadriceps strain, a strain in her groin on both legs, and now this lower leg bone bruise.
The Fever had been doing well to hold onto their playoff positioning while Caitlin recovered, but even that is in jeopardy now. They Fever have lost Syd Colson, Aari McDonald and Sophie Cunningham to season-ending injuries. The question now is not even when Caitlin will return this season, it's if she even will.