Hello, hoopheads! About 5% of the WNBA season is in the books after last night’s four-game slate, and it continues to be all about the road teams. They’re 14-4 after Wednesday’s action, with the only home wins so far being by the New York Liberty (in front of myself and Bestie!), Golden State Valkyries, Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo. You can catch up on the Tempo’s first win in franchise history here, but now we roll on to tonight’s doubleheader. In a sign of the times, you’ll have to shell out some money to one of the planet’s more odious billionaires to watch tonight’s games, which are exclusive to Prime Video (WNBA.com indicates that at least one of them is still being carried locally, so there’s that).
First up on tonight’s schedule and the better matchup on paper, the Minnesota Lynx (1-1) head to Texas to take on the Dallas Wings (1-1) (8:00 ET, Prime Video). They’ve got a common bond in the fact that the “and one” at the ends of their records are both courtesy of the Atlanta Dream, who came back from 19 points down to beat the Lynx by a point in the opener and then held off the Wings in a five-point game on Tuesday. The Wings continue to look light years better than they did last season despite the result of that game, in which Arike Ogunbowale led the way with 20 points on 7-for-15 from the field. She’s been the Wings’ top scorer in both games so far, having also put up 22 points on 8-for-15 from the field in the opening win at Indiana, vindicating the team’s somewhat surprising decision to re-sign her in free agency for at least the first two games and continuing her 2026 renaissance after an excellent Unrivaled season. Dallas is still trying to get its highest-profile free-agent acquisition going, however, as 2025 co-Defensive Player of the Year Alanna Smith has scored just 8 points on 3-for-14 (21.7%) from the field including 0-for-7 from deep while racking up 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in her first two games with the Wings. According to WNBA.com, the Wings also have a better defensive rating with Smith off the court (105.5 points allowed per 100 possessions) than when she’s on it (108.3) and a net rating of -15.7 with Smith on vs +17.5 with her off the court. It’s obviously a tiny sample, but it is at least a relatively balanced one, as Smith has been off the court for 34 of 80 minutes (42.5% of the time) through two games.
The Lynx turned the page on their collapse against the Dream by exacting some revenge on the team that eliminated them from the 2025 postseason in Tuesday’s 88-84 win at Phoenix, spoiling the Mercury’s home opener in the process. With MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier and ascendant forward Dorka Juhász sidelined, the Lynx were pretty balanced on the offensive end as all five starters scored in the 11-to-14-point range. Forwards Nia Coffey and Natasha Howard each had double-doubles and keyed Minnesota to a +12 advantage on the boards after the Lynx had been outrebounded by 21 in the opener. In the backcourt, rookie point guard Olivia Miles continued her seamless transition into the WNBA with 13 points on 5-for-10 from the field while adding 6 rebounds and 7 assists against just 2 turnovers. My opinion of Miles is the same as it was after her debut: just give her Rookie of the Year now and get it over with. It remains up in the air, however, if No. 2 overall pick Miles will square off tonight with No. 1 overall pick Azzi Fudd, as she’s questionable with the knee issue that kept her out of Tuesday’s game. Also worth a shout is 21-year old Czech rookie and human mnemonic device Emma Cechova — the latest player who Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve pulled seemingly out of thin air — who just put up 23 points and 9 rebounds on 9-for-13 from the field in her first two WNBA games. She’s also committed 10 fouls in 41 minutes, so there’s some room for improvement, but Cechova’s off to a great start.
The second half of the Amazonian twinbill is a re-do of Tuesday’s thriller between the New York Liberty (2-1) and Portland Fire (1-1) (10:00 ET, Prime Video/local affiliates), and I have it on good authority that this game is being played under “double or nothing” rules and the Libs will in fact be 4-0 with a win. Don’t fact check me on that, just roll with it. Kidding aside, New York will actually be the first team to three wins if it gets out of Rose City with a split. Portland is looking for its first winning streak after victimizing me at the buzzer on Tuesday night, and in this case I have it on good authority that winning streaks have happened before. My tongue continues to be implanted in my cheek as I say that the Liberty will need to find a way to slow down Bridget Carleton, who scored a career-high 26 points on Tuesday and has had her four highest-scoring games in a WNBA career spanning 221 contests against the Liberty. Truth be told, Carleton’s career scoring average against the Liberty (6.8 points per game) isn’t her highest against any opponent, nor is it all that different than her career average (5.8). That said, the Liberty will still be without Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally and Leonie Fiebich, and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton will be pressed into heavier minutes than she’s probably ready for yet as she comes back from a year away from the court as a result. They really haven’t done much to slow anyone down in the two games they’ve played against teams other than the Connecticut Sun under these circumstances. New York is hoping Rebecca Allen will be able to make her season debut tonight, and she certainly should help on the defensive end if she is able to play, but missing three of your top six players is still a tough way to live. I’m anticipating another hard-fought game that hopefully doesn’t hinge on a critical Liberty mistake like Tuesday’s did.