The WNBA season tips off tonight and we have plenty of exciting matchups in the association.
Let’s take a look at a heralded rookie taking on one of the top teams in the league when Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings take on Napheesa Collier and the Minnesota Lynx.
When the Wings and Lynx tip off their season in Dallas, who should you back to make a winning WNBA pick at the top-rated sportsbooks?
WNBA Pick:
- Minnesota Lynx -5.5 (-110) at Caesars Sportsbook (check our Caesars Sportsbook Review)
Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings
Friday, May 16, 2025 – 07:30 PM EDT at College Park Center
The Dallas Wings will open the season on their home court and their home fans have plenty of reasons to be excited. The main reason, however, is the new addition of Paige Bueckers, who was the #1 overall pick of the WNBA draft and is at the top of the board when it comes to betting on the WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Bueckers knows how to win as she is coming off a national championship at UConn.
Star-Studded Backcourt
Paige Bueckers will not be playing alone, however.
She will form a dynamic backcourt with Arike Ogunbowale, who is coming up on her seventh season as a member of the Dallas Wings. For her career, she averages 20.6 points per game and is coming off a season where she averaged 22.2 points. She has also increased her assist numbers in every season, averaging 5.1 assists per game in the last one.
The backcourt combination of Bueckers and Ogunbowale should be feared around the league and is one of the reasons why the Wings are expected to make a jump back into playoff contention this year.
Paige Bueckers will definitely get a welcome-to-the-WNBA moment tonight when she and the Wings take on the Minnesota Lynx.
Redemption Tour
The Lynx are fresh off a WNBA Finals appearance. In that series, they fell short against the New York Liberty 3-2, and lost Game 5 in an overtime loss. The Lynx got as close as they could get to winning a championship yet fell short. The Lynx will have their eyes set on winning the title this year.
The last team to lose in the WNBA Finals and become a champion the next year was the 2017 Minnesota Lynx. Current head coach Cheryl Reeve was also the coach of that 2017 team.
She will have plenty of experience on how to bounce back from a Finals loss and come back stronger the following season. Reeve has said that they could not have accomplished the championship in 2017 without the heartbreak in 2016. Reeve is hoping that history repeats itself this year and the Lynx hope to put on a strong performance tonight to get themselves back on track in this opening game.
Reeve has a good reason to be confident. When you have the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Napheesa Collier, you should be confident.
Collier has an excellent chance of being MVP for the WNBA this season after being the MVP of the Unrivaled league during the off-season. She is an excellent player on both ends of the floor and has an argument to be the best women’s basketball player in the world.
Lynx Look to Open Strong
How will Paige Bueckers do in her debut against Napheesa Collier? That’s the question to be answered tonight.
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese were able to come into the league and make an immediate impact last season, and Bueckers possesses the same level of talent. However, the impact the rookies made did not always lead to winning games. I will not be surprised to see that happening tonight with Paige Bueckers having an excellent game, yet the Lynx still getting the dominant victory, just as their last season’s data illustrates:
- The Minnesota Lynx were 30-10 last year. They averaged 82 points per game on 44.8% field goal percentage and 38% from 3-point range.
- The Lynx are an excellent passing team and last year they led the WNBA with 921 total assists. They were one of the better defenses in the league. They finished second in the league in points per game allowed at 75.6.
- Meanwhile, the Dallas Wings really struggled last season and had a 9-31 record. They averaged 84.2 points per game on 44.6% shooting. They were 6th in the league in assists per game. The Wings were 12th in the league in points per game allowed at 92.1.
The Pick
Although it’s a lot of points to lay on the road, I think the Minnesota Lynx experience will be too much for the Dallas Wings to handle tonight.
Coming off a tough loss last season to end their year, the Lynx will be coming into this season focused and ready to return to the Finals the way their 2017 team did. Paige Bueckers will have a great rookie season, however she will have a rough opening night.
Take the Minnesota Lynx.
WNBA Pick: Minnesota Lynx -5.5 (-110) at Caesars Sportsbook
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