Boy, Paige Bueckers and Kelsey Plum sure do bring out the best in each other. Less than a week after they scored 29 and 28, respectively, in the [Los Angeles Sparks’ 97-96 win over the Dallas Wings (9-27)](/dallas-wings/49648/wings-comeback-comes-up-just-short-against-los-angeles-sparks-97-96), Plum hit a buzzer-beating game winner on Wednesday to lift the Sparks (17-18) over the Wings, 81-80, at Crypto.com Arena. Bueckers’ 44 points in the loss was the highest-scoring game by any WNBA player this season.
The first-year superstar took her game to the stratosphere in the third quarter against the Sparks. With her 44-point explosion, Bueckers now has the third-longest streak of double-digit scoring games (29) by a rookie in WNBA history and became one of just 14 players ever to have more than one 30-plus point game in her rookie year. She shot an absurd 17-of-21 from the field and hit all four of her 3-point attempts in the loss.
The Sparks opened the second quarter on a 15-4 run fueled by Dearica Hamby and Julie Vanloo. Vanloo hit a 3-pointer then a pair of free throws when Bueckers was called for a take foul the next time down. Kelsey Plum’s first 3-ball of the game came three minutes later with Bueckers’ hand in her face, too, and gave Plum a Sparks’ franchise record 81 long balls for the season.
But on the other end, Bueckers gave the Wings everything they needed to stay in the game. She scored 16 points in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting, including a nifty move putting the ball behind her back on her way to the basket to pull the Wings to within 34-23 midway through the second. She pulled up for a smooth mid-range jumper with 21 seconds left in the first half to close the LA lead to seven, 44-37.
Rickea Jackson, who made four of her five 3-point attempts in the half, led all scorers at the break with 17.
Bueckers schooled fellow former UConn Husky Azura Stevens with an up-and-under move to the rack midway through the third to bring Dallas to within 52-48. After the ensuing free throw on the 3-point play, Bueckers was up to 19 points. The next time down, she stole the ball on an errant pass from Cameron Brink and cruised the other way for a breakaway layup to give the rookie her 14th 20-point game. The next time down, she created a driving lane where there was none and scooped home a touch little leaner to give her seven straight points, 23 for the game and keep the Wings in the game, 54-52, with 3:48 left in the third.
After Maddie Siegrist hit her second 3-pointer of the game, Paige delivered her toughest bucket yet, though. She rose up and faded away along the baseline through a Julie Allemand foul and canned the jumper to silence the Los Angeles crowd and send the Dallas bench into an uproar as the Wings took the lead, 58-57. She made easy work of getting past Brink one more time after the Sparks took the lead back to put Dallas back in front, 60-59.
Bueckers was a one-woman wrecking crew in the third quarter. She was transcendent. She followed Luisa Geiselsoder’s 3-ball from the top of the key with one of her own after her defender overplayed the passing lane with 1:13 left in the third. Bueckers went 6-for-6 from the field in the third, and that last 3-pointer extended the Dallas run to 21-7 and the team’s lead to 66-59 heading into the fourth.
Fellow Wings rookie guard JJ Quinerly had to be helped off the floor after losing her footing while guarding Plum on her way to the basket. It appeared to be yet another leg injury for this team, which has recently lost Li Yueru for the remainder of the season with a sprained left ACL before it was announced that Arike Ogunbowale had been diagnosed with tendonitis in her right knee.
So Bueckers went back to work down the stretch. She put the team on her back and made her next four field goal attempts down the stretch as the Wings and Sparks traded the lead in clutch time. Bueckers hit two more 3-pointers to briefly give Dallas a 75-73 lead, then responded twice more after that to pull the Wings back in front, 77-76, with 2:50 to play.
Jackson was called for a technical foul with 1:03 left after throwing the ball at Grace Berger following a tough battle for a rebound with Geiselsoder. Bueckers made the free throw to give her 44 points and the Wings yet another one-point lead, 80-79. Myisha Hines-Allen lost the ball out of bounds after the Wings won the ensuing jump ball, and the Wings would have to get a stop or two to pull out the upset.
They got one when Geiselsoder stuck a hand in Plum’s face on a 3-pointer from the right wing, but Aziaha James missed a corner 3-pointer on the other end, and Plum drove past Geiselsoder in the game’s final seconds and no one stepped up to challenge her in the lane. Her wide open leaner in the lane banked home at the buzzer to lift the Sparks to the 81-80 win. Plum scored 20 for the Sparks in the win, while Jackson led LA with 25.
[](/dallas-wings/49728/44-points-paige-bueckers-dallas-wings-loss-los-angeles-sparks-final-score-81-80#comments)