ARLINGTON, Texas — Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers has been ruled out of a rematch with the New York Liberty due to a back injury that required treatment during the first meeting three days earlier.
Bueckers won’t play Friday night in Texas after being listed as questionable the day before the game. During the second half of an 85-76 loss in New York on Tuesday, Bueckers went to the locker room for treatment. She returned to the bench and played in the fourth quarter.
The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft said after Tuesday’s game she felt tightness while dribbling and thinks she has a pulled muscle in her back.
It will be the seventh game Bueckers has missed. She was out four games early in the season, the first three due to a concussion, before an illness sidelined her after she cleared concussion protocol.
Bueckers — the overwhelming favourite to win WNBA Rookie of the Year, according to BetMGM — has been sidelined twice for rest, both times when the Wings were playing on consecutive nights.
The three-time Associated Press All-American from UConn leads all rookies in scoring (15 points per game) and assists (5.4), but the Wings entered the meeting with the Liberty tied with Chicago for the second-worst record in the league.
