Paige Bueckers has made progress from a back injury, but her availability isn’t assured when the Dallas Wings host the New York Liberty on Friday night in Arlington, Texas.

Bueckers is listed as questionable by the Wings after missing Thursday’s practice, one day prior to the latter part of the home-and-home series between the two teams. The Liberty notched an 85-76 home victory on Tuesday.

“I think it’s just a pulled muscle,” Bueckers said after Tuesday’s game. “I felt a strain, felt it tighten, so am just getting it worked out.”

Dallas coach Chris Koclanes said Thursday he’s hopeful of seeing Bueckers on the court, saying “she should be fine for (Friday).”

The Wings (8-22) certainly don’t want to be without the services of Bueckers as they attempt to halt a three-game slide.

Bueckers has recorded four consecutive 20-point outings to give her 13 on the season. She averages 18.6 points — seventh-best in the WNBA prior to Thursday’s games — to go with 5.4 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game in 24 appearances.

On Tuesday, Bueckers produced 21 points and eight rebounds despite the injury. The bigger issue in the contest was long-range shooting.

Dallas was an anemic 6 of 27 from 3-point range while New York sank 12 of 24 attempts. Jonquel Jones and Stephanie Talbot each made three for the Liberty.

“It’s really tough to beat a team that good when they shoot 50 percent from three,” said the Wings’ Maddy Siegrist, who had 13 points in her first game since June 11 due to a knee injury.

The Liberty (19-10) were led by Jones with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but Emma Meesseman also stood out in her second game since joining the squad. Meesseman scored 13 points in 24 minutes.

The two-time WNBA All-Star is back in the league for the first time since 2022 with the Chicago Sky. The Belgian has been the EuroLeague Women’s MVP in three straight seasons.

“I’ve been doing what I love and then this is the result of it,” Meesseman said after Tuesday’s win.

Sabrina Ionescu is impressed with the quick impact Meesseman has made. She’s averaging 12 points in 20.5 minutes per game.

“That’s why we really wanted her here,” Ionescu said. “It’s more just reassuring knowing that she came in, and this is what she’s done in her first two games. It hasn’t really been any transition period, it’s been like, ‘This is Liberty basketball and you fit in.'”

Liberty star Breanna Stewart (right knee) will miss her sixth straight game and might miss the rest of the month. The Wings’ Myisha Hines-Allen (left ankle) is probable after sitting out Tuesday.

The season series is tied 1-1 entering the final matchup of the campaign. Dallas recorded a 92-82 home win on July 28.

–Field Level Media

A pair of reports published Thursday linked the recent rise of sex toys being thrown onto WNBA courts to a cryptocurrency group pushing a memecoin.

A spokesman for the group behind Green Dildo Coin took credit for the trend in an interview with USA Today, while The Athletic reviewed a livestream of cryptocurrency enthusiasts in which speakers celebrated a sex toy being thrown onto the Los Angeles Sparks’ court Tuesday.

The group has claimed that their memecoin’s goal was to combat a “toxic” environment in the cryptocurrency world and insisted that its members did not “dislike women’s sports,” though it’s unclear why Green Dildo Coin advocates have fixated on the WNBA.

Regardless, WNBA players and coaches have widely criticized the trend, citing safety concerns alongside the unneeded ridicule it’s brought to the league. There have been six known incidents of neon green sex toys being thrown at WNBA games since July 29, per USA Today.

The latest incident came during the Sparks’ home win over the Indiana Fever on Tuesday night. Late in the first half, after Kelsey Plum of Los Angeles shot a free throw, a sex toy was tossed onto the court landing near the feet of Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.

Earlier that day, Cunningham addressed the growing trend on her podcast, “Show Me Something,” saying, “Everyone’s trying to make sure the W is not a joke and it’s taken seriously, and then that happens. I’m like, how are we ever going to get taken seriously?”

The crypto group’s spokesman defended the stunts to USA Today.

“We didn’t do this because like we dislike women’s sports or, like, some of the narratives that are trending right now are ridiculous,” he said. “Creating disruption at games is like, it happens in every single sport, right? We’ve seen it in the NFL, we’ve seen it in hockey, you know … fans doing random things to more or less create attention.

“We knew that in order to get a voice in the space … we had to go out and do some viral stunts to save us from having to pay that influencer cabal, sacrifice our souls and the fate of the project.”

The group placed one of its sex toys on the Wall Street Bull statue in New York. And the memecoin’s value has grown more than 300 percent in the past seven days, USA Today reported.

The first major incident has led to an arrest and multiple charges for its perpetrator, Delbert Carver, who tossed a sex toy onto the Atlanta Dream’s court July 29. He was released on bond and is charged with disorderly conduct, public indecency/indecent exposure and criminal trespass.

Despite that, it is not apparent that Green Dildo Coin plans to stop its stunts.

“This is empowering to every (expletive) crypto community to start thinking outside the box,” one person said on the livestream reviewed by The Athletic. “Get creative and (expletive) do something that makes people actually laugh. Memecoins should make you laugh.”

–Field Level Media

Dallas Wings star rookie guard Paige Bueckers missed Thursday’s practice with a back injury and is listed as questionable for Friday’s home game against the New York Liberty.

Bueckers injured her back during the third quarter of Tuesday’s game against the Liberty in the first of a home-and-home set. She later returned but indicated after the contest that her back was bothering her.

“I think it’s just a pulled muscle. I felt a strain, felt it tighten,” Bueckers said after the contest.

Bueckers underwent treatment Thursday and coach Chris Koclanes liked her progress.

“Just rest, day-to-day,” Koclanes said. “She should be fine for tomorrow.”

Bueckers, 23, had 21 points and eight rebounds against the Liberty on Tuesday. She has recorded four consecutive 20-point outings and has 13 on the season.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft is averaging 18.6 points, 5.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 24 games.

–Field Level Media

The WNBA trade deadline impacted two teams that will square off Friday as the Washington Mystics head north to face the Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis.

The Mystics (13-16) announced Tuesday evening that their leading scorer, Brittney Sykes, was on her way to the Seattle Storm in a trade to continue the Mystics’ build for the future. That same night, Washington started its fourth game of the season against the Chicago Sky and fell 78-64 — its lone loss to Chicago.

Another Mystics move came on Wednesday, as Washington traded forward Aaliyah Edwards to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for guard Jacy Sheldon.

In Tuesday’s defeat, rookie guard Sonia Citron led all Washington scorers with 13 points, below her 14.3 ppg average entering the day and far below the 28 points scored against Chicago seven days earlier.

“My mentality stays the same,” Citron said. “I’m going to keep playing the way I play. Obviously, there will be some adjustments that’s just what it is. Everybody just has to do a little bit more because Slim (Sykes) impacted our team in so many ways. I don’t just feel that pressure. It’s the whole team, you know? It’s just everybody doing a little bit more.”

Conversely, Minnesota (25-5) — atop the WNBA standings — only strengthened its roster with the addition of DiJonai Carrington from the Dallas Wings.

Despite losing All-Star and MVP favorite Napheesa Collier for two weeks due to an ankle sprain sustained Saturday against Las Vegas, the Lynx earned a 91-87 road win against the Seattle Storm on Tuesday night after entering halftime down eight points.

All-Star Courtney Williams led the Lynx with 20 points, 14 of which were scored in the second half. Carrington also proved key in the fourth quarter, during which she scored 10 of her 13 points.

“I’m glad to be a part of a team where we have a goal and everyone is fighting for that goal,” Carrington said. “You could just feel the energy, every huddle, every possession. This is a group of winners and I’m a winner, too. So, it’s great to be a part of it.”

Minnesota enters Friday night’s matchup on a three-game winning streak and split two previous games against the Mystics this season. Washington, with the league’s fourth-worst record, is trending in the opposite direction with three losses in a row, and the last two by double digits.

–Field Level Media

The Seattle Storm have struggled as the WNBA playoffs approach, but the recent addition of All-Star guard Brittney Sykes should add punch to the lineup in a road battle at the Las Vegas Aces.

Seattle lost its last three games but then traded guards Alysha Clark and Zia Cooke as well as a 2026 first-round draft pick to Washington for Sykes.

Sykes is averaging 15.4 points and 4.4 assists per game in her first All-Star season. The ninth-year pro is a four-time All-Defensive team selection.

Seattle (16-14) lost its last three games by a combined 10 points. Most recently, the Storm lost 91-87 to visiting Minnesota on Tuesday after allowing 28 fourth-quarter points. Nneka Ogwumike had 23 points, six rebounds and five assists, with Erica Wheeler adding 19 points.

The game was tied at 70, but Minnesota reeled off nine points over the next 2:15. Seattle pulled within 89-87 on a 3-pointer from Wheeler with 7.3 seconds left but got no closer.

“I’m super proud of our group having had a tough game on Friday and coming back and rallying back to get us into position to win the game, ” said Storm coach Noelle Quinn. “I thought we executed really well in finding the looks that we wanted. We want to not have just moral victories.”

Las Vegas (16-14) is 7-3 in its last 10 games. On Wednesday, Las Vegas outlasted Golden State 78-72. A’ja Wilson had 27 points and seven boards, sinking all 11 of her free-throw attempts to seal the win. Wilson remains second in the WNBA in both scoring (21.5 points per game) and rebounding (9.1).

Guards Jackie Young and Jewell Loyd each tallied 14 points to help the Aces grind out the win. Las Vegas held Golden State to 39.7 percent shooting, including 4-for-22 from 3-point range.

“[We were] executing the game plan at a high level,” said Aces coach Becky Hammon in reference to her team’s defense. “[We had] more attention to detail, trying to not let those little things slip, stay[ing] on top of those little things that really help you win.”

Seattle holds a 2-1 advantage in the season series, with the two teams currently tied for sixth place in the league standings.

–Field Level Media

The Washington Mystics traded forward Aaliyah Edwards to the Connecticut Sun on Thursday for guard Jacy Sheldon.

Edwards, 23, is averaging 6.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in 21 games off the Washington bench this season. She averaged 7.0 points and 4.7 boards in 55 career games (17 starts) with the Mystics.

Sheldon, 24, is averaging 7.5 points and 2.0 assists and shooting 41.2 percent from 3-point range in 28 games (17 starts) for Connecticut this season. She has career averages of 6.3 points and 2.3 assists in 68 games (43 starts) with the Dallas Wings (2024) and Sun.

Sheldon (fifth overall) and Edwards (sixth) were selected with back-to-back picks in the first round of the 2024 WNBA Draft.

The deal also gives Washington the option to swap rights for two 2026 first-round picks: the pick the Sun received from the New York Liberty for the pick the Mystics received from the Minnesota Lynx.

–Field Level Media