Kelsey Plum registered a season-high 34 points while lifting the Las Vegas Aces to an 88-69 win over the Indiana Fever in T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.
Plum's performance included six 3-pointers, six rebounds, five assists and one steal. She had 12 points in the fourth quarter alone, while the entire Fever team scored only 10 points over the last 10 minutes.
This was an excellent way for Plum to bounce back after scoring just two points against the Washington Mystics on Saturday. Other than that game, Plum has scored in double figures every single time she's taken the court this season. She has tallied 20+ points six times, and Tuesday was her first 30-point performance of 2024. Plum has also crossed the 3,000-career point mark with a total of 3,002.
"I'm just going to stay aggressive," Plum said during her postgame interview on ESPN. "Sometimes shooters miss, sometimes they make. But I know what I am and I know my teammates believe in me. My coaches believe in me."
Plum Dawg shot lights out tonight 💥
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 3, 2024
Kelsey Plum exploded for a season-high 34 PTS and shot an impressive 6-11 from deep, she also finished with 6 REB, 5 AST in the winning effort #WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/hj1m7eQAPr
The Aces have won the WNBA championship the last two seasons and entered this year as the favorite. However, they had some early struggles while Chelsea Gray was out with a foot injury. Since Gray's return, the Aces have won five straight.
"Chelsea is our leader. She gets us going," Plum said. "I've said it before, she is like the sugar in our cake. We are in a good rhythm right now. We are not going to panic. We lost a couple games early, but we are just going to keep doing our thing."
A'ja Wilson was another top performer for Las Vegas on Tuesday with 28 points, nine rebounds, two steals and five blocks. Jackie Young was the third-leading scorer for the team and registered a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Defense was also an important part of Tuesday's win. Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston led the Fever with 23 and 18 points, respectively. However, the Aces did a solid job disrupting Caitlin Clark, holding Indiana's top scorer to one field goal in the first half. Clark finished the night 4-for-12 and failed to make a single basket in the fourth quarter. She does deserve credit for putting together an all-around effort of 13 points, 11 assists and six rebounds.
"We have a lot of competitors in our team. I call them 'Hungry Hippos,'" Plum said. "We really want to win and we understand that our defense is the reason we have been able to win. That has to be better, it has to continue to be better."
The Aces improved to a 10-6, and their next game is Thursday against the Mystics.
Indiana, meanwhile, dropped to 8-13. They have a tough task ahead as they host the New York Liberty on Saturday. That game will be on CBS and Paramount+ at 1 p.m. ET.
