Kelsey Plum scores 38 on ex-team as Sparks keep Aces winless at home

Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum is off to one of the hottest starts in the WNBA this season, and she burned her former team Saturday.

Plum had 38 points, nine assists and four rebounds as the Sparks beat the Las Vegas Aces 101-95. Plum was 12-of-17 from the field -- 6-of-7 from 3-point range -- and 8-of-8 from the free throw line. She leads the WNBA in scoring at 26.8 points per game, ahead of Las Vegas center A'ja Wilson (24.8 PPG).

"Honestly, I'm trying to go out and be super patient," Plum said. "You get to a point in the league where you're seeing a lot of different coverages. I really appreciate that coach [Lynne Roberts] has a lot of trust in me, and my teammates trust me to make decisions."

Sparks guard Erica Wheeler joked of Plum, "When she's on a heater, I'm running to the corner. Don't even look at me, don't pass me the ball, stay on the heater."

The Aces dropped to 4-2, with both losses coming in their only home games thus far and after ceremonies honoring their 2025 league title.

The Aces got their championship rings May 9 at T-Mobile Arena, their alternate home, and then lost to the Phoenix Mercury. They raised their championship banner Saturday at their primary home, Michelob Ultra Arena, before falling to the Sparks. The Aces have won all four of their road games, including a 105-78 victory in their first meeting with Los Angeles on May 10.

Wilson led the Aces with 24 points and 15 rebounds Saturday. But it wasn't enough against the Sparks, who had six players score in double figures despite starter Nneka Ogwumike being out because of a left hand injury. Los Angeles forward Cameron Brink, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft who was limited to 34 games her first two seasons because of a left knee injury, had her best game in 2026 with 16 points and eight rebounds Saturday. The Sparks are 3-3.

Plum had many big scoring games in Las Vegas during her six seasons with the Aces, winning two WNBA titles. Before the 2025 season, Plum was traded to the Sparks in a three-team deal that also sent Jewell Loyd from Seattle to Las Vegas.

On Saturday, Plum joined retired players Elena Delle Donne (2015) and Maya Moore (2014) as the only WNBA players to score 25-plus points in five of their first six games in a season. Delle Donne, then with Chicago, and Moore, who played her entire WNBA career in Minnesota, won the league's MVP award the year they did that.

Plum, 31, said she worked hard on aspects of her game during the Unrivaled season in preparation for the WNBA season. She was drafted No. 1 in 2017 out of Washington, where she scored 3,527 points, second in NCAA history to Iowa's Caitlin Clark (3,951), who now plays for the Indiana Fever.

"I want to come back every year better," Plum said. "It's one thing to score, but my biggest thing is efficiency. My dream would be to go 50/40/90 [in shooting percentages for a season]."

This season, Plum is shooting 58.9% from the field, 48.8% from 3-point range and 80% from the line. She's disappointed in her free throw percentage because she is a career 88.3% shooter from the line.

"She's competitive as hell," Roberts said of Plum. "I personally don't think she gets talked about enough in the best player conversations, those MVP conversations. She's fun to coach."