WNBA: Paige Bueckers, Dallas Wings searching for first win of 2025

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It may still be early in the 2025 WNBA regular season, but we already have a good idea of who some of the best teams in the league are. Two of them, the New York Liberty and Indiana Fever, will play this Saturday, May 24 on CBS in a game that could end up being a playoff preview.

The Dallas Wings and Atlanta Dream, meanwhile, are still trying to work through some kinks. Both teams have first-year head coaches and have had some significant roster turnover since last season, which is reflected in their early-season records. The Wings, in particular, have yet to win a game; they’ll get the chance to earn their first win when they play the Dream on Saturday afternoon.

Here are just a few of the things you should be watching for during Saturday’s two-game slate.

The sweet-shooting Liberty take on the tough-defending Fever

The Liberty have looked every bit like the defending WNBA champions to begin the 2025 season, soundly defeating the Las Vegas Aces before hitting the road and easily disposing of the Chicago Sky. New York even set a WNBA record in its most recent win, knocking down 19 3-pointers as a team.

New York Liberty v Chicago Sky — Natasha Cloud made four of the Liberty’s 19 3-pointers last Thursday.

Next up for the Liberty are the Fever, who were one of the offseason’s most-hyped teams after several big free agency acquisitions put them in title talks. The addition of players like DeWanna Bonner and Natasha Howard to a core featuring Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell understandably generated some noise, and the Fever have shown flashes of brilliance early on—albeit somewhat inconsistently. After defeating the Sky by 35 points in their opener, the Fever split a pair of games with the Atlanta Dream, neither of which were truly decided until the final minutes.

Obviously, Clark and Mitchell form one of the WNBA’s most explosive backcourts, but they’ll have their hands full with what has been an unstoppable Liberty offense. New York didn’t even need its starters to play heavy minutes in its most recent win, scoring 99 points with Sabrina Ionescu playing 20 minutes and Breanna Stewart playing 25. Guards Natasha Cloud and Kennedy Burke did more than enough in their stead, combining to score 35 points and making eight of the team’s 19 3-pointers.

That being said, while this game certainly has shootout potential, the Liberty and Fever have both been playing excellent defense, too. Indiana and New York rank No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, in the WNBA in defensive rating—a small sample size, to be sure, but still indicative of the level of all-around basketball both teams are capable of playing. We already know that the Liberty are for real; if the Fever can defeat them, the championship chatter will grow even louder.

Paige Bueckers and the Wings look to get in the win column against the Dream

The beginning of Paige Bueckers’ WNBA career hasn’t quite gone according to plan.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft has gotten off to a solid start, averaging 13.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists in her first three games, but the Dallas Wings remain winless, having most recently dropped a game to the Minnesota Lynx in which Bueckers recorded her first double-double. Some early struggles were probably to be expected from the Wings, considering they went 9-31 last season, but with their prized rookie Bueckers on board, they’ll also be expected to turn things around and finish the season as an improved team.

Dallas Wings v Minnesota Lynx — Paige Bueckers has already shown the ability to make difficult shots early in her rookie season, but it hasn’t translated to Dallas Wings wins — yet.

Dallas will have an opportunity to get on the board against the Atlanta Dream, who are coming off a close loss to the Fever. In fact, every one of the Dream’s games has been close (within five points), leaving one to wonder what their record would look like had just a couple more of their 3-pointers had fallen.

Indeed, Atlanta is following up on first-year head coach Karl Smesko’s promise to shoot the long ball, getting up an average of 31.7 3-pointers per game. The Dream are making just 31.6 percent of those attempts, though, and while the team’s poor defense thus far is likely more concerning to Smesko, he can’t be happy with the way they’ve shot the ball, either.

Simply put, Saturday’s later game features two teams that are still trying to iron things out. Atlanta’s approach may seem simple, but integrating Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones in Smesko’s 3-point-heavy offense—especially when the two centers are being asked to shoot it from deep, too—remains a work in progress. Dallas, meanwhile, is looking for any signs of progress, whether it be building chemistry between Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale or establishing a set frontcourt rotation. A win for either team could go a long way in finding their respective on-court identities.