WNBA Tonight

July 20, 2026

Four WNBA Games Tonight on NBCSN, Prime Video and USA: Bueckers Uncertain After a Head Injury as the Wings Go for Seven Straight, and Brondello Serves Her Suspension in Toronto

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Four Monday games span NBCSN/Peacock, Prime Video and USA Network: Paige Bueckers is uncertain after hitting her head in Sunday's win as the Wings go for a franchise-record seventh straight, Sandy Brondello serves her one-game suspension when the defending-champion Aces visit Toronto, the Valkyries go for ten in a row against the Mystics, and the league-best Lynx visit the league-worst Storm. Last night, the Dream won on Jordin Canada's buzzer-beater after Angel Reese left with a knee injury, the Wings got their sixth straight, and DeWanna Bonner became the Mercury's all-time rebounding leader in a win that snapped a five-game skid.

New York Liberty (13-12) at Dallas Wings (17-8): Bueckers' status and a seventh straight, on Prime Video

Tipoff 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. National TV: Amazon Prime Video, confirmed by Sports Media Watch. Local: KFAA-TV (Dallas), WWOR (New York). CBS Sports gametracker. This is the makeup of the July 16 game postponed when the Liberty's charter plane broke down and left the team on the tarmac for 12 hours.

The Wings carry the longest winning streak in franchise history, six straight, and a seventh would extend the record. They have beaten the Liberty twice already this season, both in Brooklyn (91-76 on May 24, 88-77 on July 7), and they swept a four-game road trip through Montreal and New York earlier this month. Jessica Shepard set the Wings' single-season double-double record on Sunday, her 16th, and trails only Angel Reese leaguewide.

Whether they have to do it without Paige Bueckers is the question of the night. Bueckers scored 25 points Sunday before a scary collision with the Sparks' Nneka Ogwumike with 3:33 left. Ogwumike, fouled by Azzi Fudd, crashed into Bueckers' knee on her way down, and Bueckers hit the back of her head on the court. She walked to the locker room under her own power and did not return. Coach Jose Fernandez had no update postgame, and because this is the back end of Dallas' first back-to-back of the season, the official injury report is not due until 1:00 PM CT, roughly six hours before tipoff and after this issue posts. Bueckers was joking with Fudd about the play afterward, a reassuring sign, but a head injury on the second night of a back-to-back, with the All-Star break three days away, gives the Wings every reason to be cautious. If she sits, the load falls to Arike Ogunbowale (20 points Sunday, who closed out the win with a personal 4-0 run after Bueckers left) and Fudd.

The Liberty arrive limping. They have lost four straight, including a 108-88 dismantling in Indianapolis on Saturday in which the Fever erased a 13-point deficit with a 63-39 second half. Tonight is the middle game of a brutal three-in-five-days across three cities: at Indiana (done), at Dallas (tonight), home for Chicago on Wednesday. New York is still without Satou Sabally (concussion, out through the All-Star break) and Leonie Fiebich (left foot). Breanna Stewart (20.6 PPG, sixth in the league) and Bueckers (20.9, fourth) were supposed to be the marquee scorer matchup. Whether Bueckers is on the floor determines whether that billing survives tipoff.

Las Vegas Aces (17-7) at Toronto Tempo (10-15): Brondello serves her suspension, on NBCSN and Peacock

Tipoff 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto. National TV: NBCSN and Peacock, with WNBA Showtime pregame at 8:00 PM ET featuring Sue Bird, Cheryl Miller and host LaChina Robinson. Canada: TSN. Local: Vegas 34 (KMCC). Game page. This is the first meeting of the season between the two teams.

The storyline the league has been talking about all weekend resolves here. The WNBA suspended Tempo coach Sandy Brondello one game without pay for an "inappropriate comment" caught on a broadcast hot mic during Friday's loss to Atlanta, when she called Angel Reese a "protected species" while arguing officials after a foul that injured Tempo forward Nyara Sabally. Brondello, who is Australian, said the phrase is a common officiating gripe in Australian sport, but acknowledged it "carried an impact beyond what I intended, particularly for Black women in our league." Associate head coach Olaf Lange takes over tonight. It is the first game Brondello has missed for any reason this season.

The basketball underneath the news is lopsided on paper but carries a rest-vs-rust edge. The defending-champion Aces have not played since a 109-75 loss to Indiana on July 12, eight days off, and they have dropped two of their last four. A'ja Wilson had 20 points and 12 rebounds in that loss and Jackie Young added 15. The Aces sit two games behind Minnesota for the league lead. The Tempo have lost two straight, including Friday's 111-92 defeat to the Dream in which Marina Mabrey scored 26 and Sabally added 16 before the collision that set off the Brondello incident. Sabally (rib) has been ruled out for tonight, and Toronto is also without Brittney Sykes (foot) and Kiki Rice (ankle). Las Vegas is without Janiah Barker (leg, out for the season) and Kierstan Bell (leg).

Washington Mystics (12-12) at Golden State Valkyries (19-7): ten in a row, and a rematch, on League Pass

Tipoff 10:00 PM ET / 7:00 PM PT at Chase Center in San Francisco. No national TV. WNBA League Pass, with local coverage on KPIX/KOVR (Bay Area) and Monumental Sports Network (DC). CBS San Francisco watch guide.

The Valkyries bring a franchise-record nine-game winning streak into the rematch, and a tenth would keep them a game behind Minnesota for the league's best record. They needed every bit of it Saturday: the Mystics led by six late before Golden State closed on a 15-4 run, with five of the Valkyries' 12 three-pointers coming in the final 5:55. Gabby Williams, back from a one-game absence with a back contusion, hit two key threes down the stretch and finished with 18. Veronica Burton had 11 points and 11 assists, and Kayla Thornton's three with 4:14 left put Golden State ahead for good. The Valkyries are 6-0 all-time against Washington and have sold out every game at Chase Center since their inaugural season tipped off.

The matchup is a stylistic clash the coaches are still trying to solve. The interior-powered Mystics pounded Golden State 40-16 in points in the paint Saturday, with Shakira Austin going for 18 points and 16 rebounds, but the perimeter-oriented Valkyries out-treed them down the stretch. Washington coach Sydney Johnson said his team played well enough to win but needs to close better: five of the Mystics' 12 losses have come by five points or fewer. Washington is clean on the injury report, while Golden State is without Juste Jocyte (left foot) and Iliana Rupert (season, pregnancy). This is the final game before the All-Star break for both teams.

Minnesota Lynx (20-6) at Seattle Storm (6-21): the best and the worst, on USA Network

Tipoff 10:00 PM ET / 7:00 PM PT at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. National TV: USA Network, plus Victory+ (Minnesota) and CW Seattle/Prime Video-Seattle locally. This is the first of a two-game series that wraps up Wednesday in the last game before the All-Star break.

Minnesota sits alone in first place, a game up on the Valkyries and two up on the Aces, riding a five-game winning streak into the week. The remarkable part is that the Lynx have done it all season without Napheesa Collier, who is still working back from offseason ankle surgery and remains out. Rookie Olivia Miles has stepped into the void and put herself in the MVP conversation, averaging 19.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists, and Kayla McBride has scored at least 20 in six straight games after 24 in Saturday's 101-93 win over Portland. Coach Cheryl Reeve, though, is unhappy with a defense that has allowed at least 80 points in seven consecutive games. "We have to start making some progress there," she said Saturday. "I'm not sure that it's sinking in."

The Storm have the worst record in the league at 6-21 and are 1-12 against the West, but they have been better at home (8-4 against the spread) and they just took Caitlin Clark and the Fever to the wire Friday before falling 110-107. Dominique Malonga had 28 points and 14 rebounds in that game, and Clark praised Seattle's young core afterward. The Storm are 0-10 in games decided by five points or fewer, which is both a problem and a sign they are close. Ezi Magbegor is out for Seattle. The Lynx won the first meeting 88-68 on June 6 in Minneapolis.

Last night: Reese's knee, Canada's buzzer-beater, and Bonner's record

Dream 93, Sky 91. Jordin Canada's layup at the buzzer capped a wild finish in College Park, but the headline is Angel Reese. The WNBA's leading double-double player left in the fourth quarter when her knee buckled on a jump stop under the basket, fell, got up, and went down again seconds later. The Dream ruled her out for the rest of the game. Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 29 points before Canada's winner bailed out a 22-point lead the Dream had squandered. Azura Stevens had 20 for Chicago, which was without Skylar Diggins for a sixth straight game (right knee, out since July 7). The Dream and Fever are now tied at 16-10 atop the Eastern Conference. Reese, an All-Star starter, faces an uncertain week with the All-Star break arriving after Wednesday's slate.

Wings 90, Sparks 82. Bueckers had 25 points before the collision that put her status for tonight in doubt, and Ogunbowale closed it out. Shepard had 11 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for her record 16th double-double. Nneka Ogwumike had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Sparks, who finished a four-game road trip 0-4 and fell to 10-15. Recap.

Mercury 72, Sun 63. DeWanna Bonner scored a season-high 21 and became the Mercury's all-time leading rebounder, passing Brittney Griner. The Sun committed a season-high 21 turnovers. Kahleah Copper added 18 and Natasha Mack returned from an eight-game absence (foot) to help close it out. The Mercury snapped a five-game skid. Recap.

Monday standings snapshot

Western Conference (leader Minnesota 20-6): Minnesota Lynx 20-6; Golden State Valkyries 19-7 (1 GB); Las Vegas Aces 17-7 (2 GB); Dallas Wings 17-8 (2.5 GB); Portland Fire 11-15 (9 GB); Los Angeles Sparks 10-15 (9.5 GB); Phoenix Mercury 9-18 (11.5 GB); Seattle Storm 6-21 (14.5 GB).

Eastern Conference (co-leaders Indiana and Atlanta, both 16-10): Indiana Fever 16-10; Atlanta Dream 16-10 (tied); Washington Mystics 12-12 (3 GB); Toronto Tempo 10-15 (5.5 GB); Chicago Sky 9-17 (7 GB); Connecticut Sun 7-19 (9 GB).

The top of the West is a three-team race separated by two games, with Dallas a half-step further back. The East is a dead heat at the top, with the Mystics the only other team at .500. The All-Star break arrives after Wednesday's slate.

That’s the reading for this issue.