The last time the Toronto Tempo and Dallas Wings met, Paige Bueckers got the best of Marina Mabrey in the battle of star guards. The pair put on a show in their second meeting on Friday, as Mabrey shot the lights out to the tune of 34 points and Bueckers matched it with her sensational pull-up game.
Bueckers got out to a masterful start from the mid-range, savvily weaving through traffic, finding her spots and sinking it. She went 4-of-5 on middies in the first frame. But Mabrey, fresh off a frustrating, physical matchup with the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, came out with bigger guns blazing.
The newly anointed All-Star came off a high handoff, so high that Arike Ogunbowale dared to go under on the W’s top three-point shooter, and Mabrey used the tightest of windows to drill a triple from 30 feet.
It was the start of an onslaught. Another catch-and-shoot dropped. Julie Allemand grabbed a backcourt steal and immediately hit Mabrey, who ran into another 30-footer. Clearly feeling it, Mabrey went to work on Ogunbowale, hit a snatch-back dribble behind her back, stepped back, and banged another deep 3 with a hand in her face. It was a 4-for-4 start from downtown Montreal for Mabrey, part of a 17-point first quarter that shot them out to a 33-25 lead. It was apparently “insane” inside the Bell Centre, where a crowd of 20,996 broke the WNBA’s attendance record as the Tempo played the first game of their Cross-Canada Series. Mabrey’s final three points of the first came on foul shots after Odyssey Sims understandably played her aggressively at the 3-point line.
Mabrey, well known for her fiery personality — see the crash-out jar — didn’t hesitate to show aggression back. However, it quickly resulted in three personal fouls and got her a seat on the bench. But her hot shooting was contagious, and her teammates picked her up.
Fresh off a career-high 24-point night, Izzy Harrison continued to finish efficiently on cuts and as a roller, including the Tempo’s first two buckets of the game. Her pick n’ roll connection with Allemand kept bearing fruit. Later, Maria Conde came off a flare screen and hit a popping Harrison for an open 3. She had 11 on a perfect 5-for-5 at half.
After coming off the bench and seeing a slight dip in minutes, Laura Juskaite returned to the starting role she had occupied for 13 straight games previously, and it suited her. She scored on a couple of hard-charging drives, but also picked up where Mabrey left off from deep. She drained three first-half triples, including a tough side-step on a closeout and step-back. Juskaite’s mostly been a standstill catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter this season. Seeing her comfortably making shots off movement is an encouraging development.
Milton, Ont., native Kayla Alexander checked into the game in the second quarter, her first WNBA action since 2020, after signing a seven-day hardship contract on Thursday. With starting centre Nyara Sabally (knee) now sidelined along with fellow big Temi Fagbenle, Alexander stood to contribute in the frontcourt. She played 10 minutes, grabbing a pair of boards and sinking a single free throw.
Meanwhile, despite Mabrey and Juskaite letting it rain from 3, Bueckers miraculously kept pace from 2. She relentlessly wormed her way into the midrange and made her shots. Why slow down when you can keep smashing the Turbo button, if ain’t broke, don’t fix it, etc, etc. Jess Sheppard’s driving and Azzi Fudd’s shooting complemented it well, and the Wings drew even as the game crossed over the halfway point, setting up a wild second half that would somehow exceed the first-half shootout. Full speed ahead!
Ogunbowale came out of the half determined to attack Mabrey, and did so successfully, first making a fading mid-range jumper over the top. Next she drove and got an and-1 to go through contact, giving the Tempo’s first All-Star her fourth foul.
But Mabrey stayed in. First she split a blitz but fumbled the ball out of bounds as she spun to the rim. Then she split another double, and this time finished an and-1. Four fouls, plenty of time left and still not shying away from contact. Very Mabrey-coded. She made a great lay-down pass to Juskaite, but the swarming Wings’ defence stopped it. But a long rebound went to Harrison and she drained a triple. Allemand and Fudd traded transition pulls. It was breakneck runout after exceptional shot after well-executed play. The two teams had combined to shoot over 48% from 3. The defence was solid, but the offence was better. Good basketball. Juskaite rejected staggered pin downs and cut baseline to tie her career-high of 19. Then she passed it with a pair of free throws (Juskaite finished with 25). Toronto led 85-84 going into the final quarter.
Then, when it came down to winning time, it wasn’t there for the Tempo.
They had to work hard to get Mabrey the ball, having her screen and pop out to the perimeter. Getting the job done was a grind. She put her head down and drove, decelerated and stepped through for a tough, crafty finish. Conde dished for yet another Harrison layup, giving her 16 points and the Spaniard eight assists. All-around, the Tempo moved the ball well, particularly in the first half when 16 of their 32 field goals were assisted. But they had only eight more dimes in the second.
The offence stagnated. After their blazing start, Mabrey and Juskaite took on the brunt of the offensive possessions and scored only six points on nine shots. The Tempo scored only 10 points as a whole in the last frame. Meanwhile, Alysha Clark stepped up with all ten of her points, Ogunbowale sunk a big 3, and Bueckers kept owning the middle of the floor and pouring in points.
Ogunbowale’s 3 at the midway point of the fourth put Dallas up seven, and they kept the pedal on the floor as an 18-4 run silenced the largest crowd in WNBA history. It was an exhilarating game for the Montreal fans that skidded to a hapless ending for the Tempo. Great basketball until it wasn’t.
The Tempo are now 9-13 at the halfway point of the season, and it won’t get any easier when they host head coach Sandy Brondello’s old team, the New York Liberty, on Sunday at the Bell Centre again.
