Wings' Paige Bueckers Day-to-Day With Back Injury in WNBA Rookie Season

The Dallas Wings had quite the scare during Tuesday's loss to the New York Liberty when rookie star Paige Bueckers left the game with a back injury, but it appears she avoided a significant setback.

"I was just dribbling the ball and just felt a tightness come along," she said, per Alyce Brown of the Associated Press. "It's day to day. I'm hoping it won't take me out. Just get some treatment, get some rest. 

"I think it's just a pulled muscle. I felt a strain, felt it tighten, so I am just getting it worked out."

Bueckers exited in the third quarter and received treatment in the locker room before returning in the fourth quarter of the 85-76 loss. Despite the setback, she was largely excellent and finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists on 8-of-15 shooting from the field.

While this has been a disappointing season for the 8-22 Wings, the future is bright in large part because of the UConn product.

She was the No. 1 overall pick of this year's WNBA draft and has lived up to elevated expectations while averaging 18.6 points, 5.4 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. She also earned a starting role in the All-Star Game and looks every bit the part of the franchise cornerstone Dallas surely envisioned when it drafted her.

Bueckers has scored 20 or more points in each of the last four games and hasn't seemed to hit a rookie wall even 24 games into her first WNBA campaign.

Yet her long-term health and overall development is the most important thing of the entire season for the Wings.

Given where they are in the standings, there is no need to rush Bueckers back if she is dealing with any type of injury concern. Barring a stunning late turnaround, they aren't going to be a playoff team and surely have an eye toward the future.

They do have a couple days of rest at least before they return to the court to once again face the Liberty on Friday. Perhaps that will be enough time for Bueckers to recover and find herself back in the lineup, especially given her own assessment of the injury.