The Dallas Wings (18-9) will look to continue the hot stretch they started going into the WNBA All-Star Break with their first game in a week, when they host the Atlanta Dream (16-10) on Wednesday at College Park Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Wings have won seven of their last eight, and their only loss in that stretch was a 99-98 overtime loss to the New York Liberty without star guard Paige Bueckers, who sat out with what the team called “soreness” after a collision with Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike in Dallas’ 90-82 win on July 19.
The Dream, meanwhile, have won four of their last five after a recent five-game skid that started in late June. Atlanta has been a bad matchup for the Wings the last couple of seasons. Dallas has lost both of its matchups with the Dream this year (77-72 on May 12 and 86-69 on May 22) after dropping three of four to Atlanta last season.
Here are three things to watch out for in what appears on paper to be another close matchup between two winning teams.
Alanna Smith’s availability
Center Alanna Smith, who was recently selected as a member of the Australian Opals in the upcoming 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup, is listed as probable on the Wings’ latest injury report after missing the Wings’ last three games with a right leg injury. The World Cup starts on Aug. 30 and will be played in Berlin.
The Wings have been bullied in the paint at times in the last three games, as well as in the game Smith went down, a 96-91 win over the Chicago Sky on July 12. But it’s not just Smith’s presence on the defensive end the Wings are looking forward to. She had a nice four-game stretch shooting from the outside before her latest injury as well. Smith went 4-of-9 from 3-point range from June 20 through July 7.
The injury luck with Smith has been unfortunate this season, as the leg injury came after a stretch earlier this season when she got limited run and was hampered by the mask she wore after a preseason facial injury. Smith came into the season as the defending WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and was considered one of the Wings’ top free-agent additions before the 2026 season.
Jessica Shepard’s dominance
In Smith’s limited playing time, Jessica Shepard, who was thought of as the Wings’ next best free agent addition heading into the year, has stepped up far beyond any projections. She earned her first All-Star Game appearance and start this season, averaging 14.9 points, 12 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. Shepard’s numbers this year are leaps and bounds better than any of her previous five seasons in the W, and she has recorded an unprecedented four triple-doubles this year, which is three more than any other player in the league.
Her five career triple-doubles already put her at second all-time in WNBA history, far behind Alyssa Thomas’ mark of 26 (regular season and playoffs). Shepard’s fourth triple-double of the year came in the Wings’ last game before the All-Star Break, a 101-97 win at the Portland Fire.
“I’m so happy I’m on her team,” Wings guard Arika Ogunbowale said in a televised post-game interview after that win.
Shepard scored seven points, grabbed five boards and dished five assists for Team Spoon, which beat Paige Bueckers (12 points, seven assists) and Team Coop 129-122 on Saturday.
But Shepard isn’t the only Dallas Wing who is riding a high from the 2026 All-Star festivities, as rookie guard Azzi Fudd shredded the nets in Friday’s 3-point Shooting Contest for a win in the finals over Fire guard Bridget Carleton.
Fudd comes into Wednesday’s game shooting 20-of-49 40.8% from 3-point land in her last seven games, and the only thing more notable than the shooting percentage is the fact that she’s getting up seven attempts per game in that stretch.
“To be the first is definitely an honor,” Fudd said in a televised interview following her 3-point contest win. “I feel like it’s, kind of going back — coming back from injuries, it was a lot of chair shooting, a lot of stationary shots, and so you get really good at shooting off a rack and being stationary and robotic, and having your shot down to a tee.”
Fudd also averages nearly two steals per game in that stretch. She’s been a menace on both ends of the floor recently for Dallas.
Atlanta’s balancing act
The Wings will have their hands full with the Dream’s backcourt tandem of Allisha Grey, who scores 19.1 points per game, and Rhyne Howard, who comes in averaging 17.6. That’s a big pair of guards for Fudd, Bueckers and Ogunbowale to have to deal with. They held Bueckers to just 15 and seven points in the first two matchups between these teams in May.
But Angel Reese may be the Wings’ biggest obstacle in the paint in this one. She comes in averaging 15.4 points and more than 11 rebounds per game. Reese and Shepard have been the top two players in the league in double-doubles all year long.
Reese is exactly the kind of banger inside that tends to give the Wings trouble. Awak Kuier is tall enough to contend with Reese, but may not have the strength to contend with her one-on-one. Shepard and Smith can hold their own, but Reese’s size allows her to brute force her way to the rack against players their size.