Two of the faces of the WNBA will meet tonight, when Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky host Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings. Neither team is great: Dallas is just 6-14 and Chicago 5-13, and both teams are +1000 or worse to make the postseason at DraftKings Sportsbook.
The game tips off at 8 p.m. ET. at Wintrust Arena in the Windy City. With both Reese, who was recently named the WNBA cover athlete for NBA 2K26, and Bueckers being among the most popular players in the league, the cheapest resale ticket is currently $65, which is more expensive than the Chicago Bulls’ average get-in price.
Dallas is a one-point favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook (-115 Moneyline), with the total set at 166 points. Below, I’ll break down the third meeting between the two dynamic stars.
Wings at Sky prediction, pick
Like Caitlin Clark last season, Bueckers has lived up to the hype of being the first overall pick, being named as an All-Star starter in her inaugural season. She’s been nothing short of dominant since returning from a concussion and illness-induced absence on June 11, averaging 20.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game since then while nailing 47.9% of her field-goal attempts, 36.4% of her threes, and 92.1% of her free throws. She’s the league’s second-most prolific midrange shooter, trying 5.7 per game, and of the nine players trying three or more middies per game, she’s the third-most efficient. Unsurprisingly, the Wings are 5.7 points per 100 possessions better with Bueckers on the floor, though they’ve still been outscored overall.
Not to be outdone, Reese is on a genuinely historic run. She’s snagged 15 or more rebounds in each of her last six games — each a double-double — averaging 17.8 points and 17.0 boards per game across that span. She hasn’t even been that inefficient, shooting 45.8% from the field and 88.7% from the free throw line, and has demonstrated playmaking touch, dishing out 4.8 assists per game. There’s still room for improvement — among the 26 players who have attempted three or more restricted-area shots per game this season, only she and Bueckers’ teammate, DiJonai Carrington, are have made less than half — but over her last six games, that mark has improved to 51.9%. She leads the Sky in defensive rating and defensive win shares.
Reese’s improvements haven’t been leading to wins, though. Chicago has been outscored by 20 with her on the floor in the last six games, losing four of the six overall and nine of the last 12. Beyond Reese and Ariel Atkins, who last made an All-Star team in 2022, the Sky simply don’t have that much talent and have been unable to replace Courtney Vandersloot’s production after she went down with a torn ACL in the seventh game of the season. Kia Nurse, on her third team in as many seasons, lost her spot in the starting lineup, and first-round pick Hailey Van Lith has an effective field goal percentage of just 39.0%. Chicago has had an effective paint defense with its double-big look but struggled to guard the midrange and the arc, which I expect Bueckers to take full advantage of.
Dallas hasn’t done that much better defensively — it has allowed the highest percentage in the midrange and the second-highest from beyond the arc — but despite a 30-point loss to the red-hot Phoenix Mercury on Monday, it is in much better form overall. The Wings have won three of their five games since inserting six-foot-seven Chinese center Li Yueru into the starting lineup, and opponents have shot just 55.1% within five feet across that span, outscoring opponents by 2.2 points per 100 possessions in Li’s 189 minutes with the team. Between major improvements from Bueckers, Vandersloot’s injury, and Li’s acquisition, the Sky’s wins on May 29 and 31 don’t mean much. Dallas will win this one.
