Kelsey Plum returned from a sprained ankle and scored 27 points for la sparks on Friday, then carried that scoring form into a Sunday matchup with Portland. The Sparks entered as 7.5-point favorites for the 8 p.m. ET game at home. Plum’s quick return left Los Angeles with its top offensive threat back in place.
Kelsey Plum's quick return
Plum came back in less than two weeks after the ankle injury. Before that setback, she had scored 25 or more points in five of six games and was averaging 26.8 points. That stretch is why her return immediately changed the way the Sparks were priced and projected.
Los Angeles had cashed six Overs in Plum’s seven games and five straight Overs when she was in the lineup. The Sparks also outperformed bookmakers’ expectations by an average of 18.9 points per game with her available. That is the clearest sign of how much her scoring has driven their results.
Portland Fire's defensive test
Portland brought the No. 12 defense in rating and the league’s second-highest opposing assist totals into Southern California. Carla Leite was identified as the leading contender to benefit from those assist numbers, while Sarah Ashlee Barker and Karlie Samuelson were listed as day-to-day.
The Sparks had no injuries to report, which gave them a cleaner setup around Plum than Portland had on its injury report. For Los Angeles, the immediate question is whether her return keeps the offense efficient enough to justify that 7.5-point line again. For Portland, the defensive numbers point to a much tougher assignment against a scorer who has already shown she can clear 25 points with regularity.
