If they secure the fifth seed, the Wings would likely meet the Atlanta Dream in the first round. If Dallas lands the sixth seed, the team would face the Las Vegas Aces.
While the Aces are the defending champions, that might be a better matchup for the Wings, who will make their first playoff appearance since 2023.
Dallas won its regular season series 2-1 against Las Vegas. In May, the Wings bested the Aces 95-87. The following month, Dallas routed Las Vegas 96-66.
The Aces had the final word in a 99-84 win on June 25, but the Wings still won the series.
Atlanta, however, swept Dallas 3–0 this season. The Dream won the first game of the series, the Wings’ May 12 home opener, 77-72. About a week later, Atlanta dominated Dallas 86-69.
That remains the Wings’ lowest point total of the season.
Dallas began what was a post-All Star break slide with an 82-81 loss to Atlanta on July 29. The Wings controlled the game until about the last 90 seconds.
Arguably unlike any other team in the WNBA, the Dream have managed to rattle star guard Paige Bueckers, who is averaging 20.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists ahead of Monday night’s game against the Phoenix Mercury.
While Bueckers was 6 of 11 for 16 points and recorded four rebounds and six assists against the Dream on July 29, she had five turnovers — a very uncharacteristic number for the All-Star guard.
In the 86-69 loss to the Dream on May 22, Bueckers scored just seven points on 3 of 13 shooting. She had seven assists and a couple steals, but she committed three turnovers.
In either playoff scenario, the Wings will have to prove themselves. Against the Aces, they’d have the challenge of trying to beat the defending champs in a playoff series — not a regular season one. Against the Dream, they’d have to show that Atlanta doesn’t completely have their number.