Kelsey

Plum

Plum’s debut season with the Sparks came to a close on Thursday, finishing with a team-high in assists against the Aces and as one of four players to score in double figures. She flashed the playmaking skills in Thursday’s contest that she displayed throughout the season en route to logging a career-high in assists per game. Additionally, her pair of steals against the Aces contributed to her career-high in steals for any season. While the Sparks came up short of the postseason, Plum enjoyed one of the best seasons of her career and was a productive player in fantasy basketball leagues.

Initially questionable for Tuesday’s game with a left foot injury, Plum gutted out 33 minutes with the Sparks’ postseason hopes on the line. Seattle’s win over Golden State eliminated the Sparks from postseason contention, but overall, this was an encouraging first season for Plum in Los Angeles. Compared to last season, she recorded higher averages in points, rebounds, assists and steals while earning a fourth straight trip to the All-Star Game. However, like three-time All-Star Dearica Hamby, Plum will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. That will make for a crucial offseason for a franchise that has not reached the playoffs since 2020.

Plum wasn’t her most efficient on Friday night, shooting 40% from the field and struggled to convert looks on drives to the rim that she typically makes. Plum was guarded well by both the Dream’s Jordin Canada and Maya Caldwell. Plum hit two three-pointers on Friday night and passed Nicole Powell for 14th on the WNBA’s all-time three-point makes list. She facilitated the ball well and found Dearica well spaced on the perimeter for a drive to the basket in addition to on a pick-and-roll action. Plum also kicked the ball out to Julie Allemand with 4:51 left in the fourth quarter for a wide open three-pointer.

Hamby was super efficient on Friday night, shooting over 73% from the field against the Dream. Her performance marked the fourth time in a row where she shot over 50% from the field and it was her fourth consecutive game with 20 or more points. Hamby did an excellent job of taking advantage of the mismatch she posed at the center position. She blew past both Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner multiple times on drives and took advantage of her size advantage when the Dream were switching, and as a result there was a smaller defender on her. Hamby was on triple-double watch also finishing the game with seven rebounds and five assists to three different teammates including Rickea Jackson, Julie Allemand and Kelsey Plum.

Plum bounced back from a rough shooting night against the Storm, scoring efficiently on Wednesday before finishing as one of the Sparks’ top two scorers. Eleven of Plum’s points came in the opening half before scoring four points in each of the remaining quarters. Additionally, the 2025 All-Star finished as her team’s assist leader on the night, while notching a couple of steals to conclude with a solid final line. Still, the Sparks may need even more from Plum in Friday’s rematch against Atlanta.

While Plum didn’t shoot the basketball well, she provided a great deal of impact for the Sparks on Monday. In the win, she led the team in assists and produced the highest plus-minus of any Sparks player, while also logging 35 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back. Her five turnovers are worth mentioning, but fortunately for fantasy managers, that statistic isn’t tracked in ESPN leagues. The Sparks will likely need Plum to be productive on Wednesday against the Dream as they continue to pursue a playoff spot.

Plum came up in the clutch when her team needed her against the scrappy Mystics. While Mystics wing Sonia Citron kept Plum in check during the first three quarters, Plum helped the Sparks offense with the ball in her hands. She accounted for 68 percent of the Sparks’ total offense in the fourth quarter via her 14 points scored and multiple assists to Dearica Hamby, who she found on the move for four different field goals throughout the game. 12 of Plum’s 14 fourth-quarter points came during the final five minutes of the game. It was a clutch performance to get the win for the Sparks.

Hamby had difficulty on both ends of the floor on Friday night. Defending and scoring against Aliyah Boston, one of the strongest and deceptively quick centers in the league has been a challenge for her this entire season. Lead guard Kelsey Plum tried to hit Hamby running the floor in transition multiple times, but either Plum’s pass was to long or Hamby was a little behind in being able to catch the ball. While scoring the basketball was harder to come by for Hamby, when she did score it came on different big-to-big passing actions from her front court partner Azurá Stevens. Hamby did lead her team rebounding the basketball, hauling down seven rebounds on a night when the Sparks were out rebounded 40-30 by the Fever.

With Rickea Jackson still clearly in some pain and not moving particularly well from her left leg injury that she sustained on Tuesday night, it was up to Burrell to step up coming off the bench. She hit a three-pointer and slashed to the basket well, putting a lot of pressure on the rim. While the Fever defense was so keyed into Kelsey Plum throughout the game, Burrell had some more space to attack the basket and speed past the Fever’s line of defense. The Sparks wing did her most damage in the third quarter, scoring five of the Fever’s total 11 third quarter points at a moment in the game where both team’s were struggling to score.

Like Kelsey Mitchell on the Fever, Kelsey Plum also had a muted game on Friday night. She began the game shooting 5-for-7 from the floor in the first half but then struggled in the second half, missing all three shots in the third and didn’t even attempt one in the fourth. While Plum didn’t score in the fourth, two of her three total assists came in that final frame. One was an Azurá Stevens three-pointer and the other was to a cutting Julie Allemand near the basket. But with 13 seconds left in regulation and the Sparks down 76-75, Plum turned the ball over after receiving the ball once the Fever defense had broken up the Sparks’ initial play.