WNBA: Top picks Bueckers, Malonga meet as teams look for first win

Monday night has just one game on the WNBA schedule with the Dallas Wings hosting the Seattle Storm. The game will start at 8 p.m. ET and be televised nationally on NBA TV.

The matchup will feature the No. 1 and No. 2 picks from the 2025 WNBA Draft: Paige Bueckers from Dallas and Dominique Malonga from Seattle.

Both teams have started slowly this season. The Wings were beaten by the Minnesota Lynx 99-84 on Friday, while the Storm were blown out by the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday 81-59.

For Dallas, the key has to be to getting Bueckers going. She struggled in the season opener, scoring just 10 points. This is standard for rookies adjusting to the WNBA, but if they want to win games in 2025, the Wings must find ways to get her easy baskets. Bueckers wasn’t the only one struggling in the Dallas backcourt. Arike Ogunbowale scored 16 points, but half of that production came from the charity stripe, where she made eight free throws. If the Wings are going to protect homecourt, their top guards have to produce.

For Seattle, a victory would wash out the bad taste in their mouth from their first loss. They massively struggled to get anything going, and it seemed only Skylar Diggins came to play. She had 21 points in the loss. Nneka Ogwumike also had some life to her and scored 12 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Beyond that, no one else stood out positively.

Perhaps the Storm bench can jumpstart this season for Seattle. Li Yueru clocked 22 minutes, but only scored six points, going 2-for-6 from the field. If she can find some rhythm, it could help establish dominance inside the paint. Additionally, if rookie Malonga can get comfortable, she can help Yueru with scoring from the bench. Malonga played just 10 minutes in the season opener and scored two points.

For one team, a victory on Monday will even their record and calm down any burbling panic. For the other, it’ll be 0-2 and a less-than-ideal beginning to 2025.