Kelsey Plum took a risk when she departed the Las Vegas Aces this offseason — and it’s quietly paying off. Plum’s Los Angeles Sparks aren’t contenders; they’re currently one game out of the playoff race.

But, they’re only 1.5 games behind the Aces, and Plum is lighting up the competition. The 30-year-old guard is averaging 20.1 points, 5.9 assists, and 1.7 steals this season. The assists and steals are both career-highs, while she’s just a tenth of a point off of her career-best in scoring (she averaged 20.2 points per game in 2022).

The Sparks have won five games in a row, the longest win streak of any team in the WNBA. On Saturday, they narrowly defeated the New York Liberty, thanks to a Rickea Jackson game-winner at the buzzer.

It’s not just Kelsey Plum who is responsible for the Sparks’ rise

In addition to Plum, three Sparks players are currently averaging double-figures: Dearica Hamby (17.6 points, 8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game), Azura Stevens (14.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals), and Jackson (13.6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists).

On each night, a different player has stepped up; Hamby led the way with 24 points and 14 rebounds in a July 22nd win over the Washington Mystics, Plum exploded for 30 points and 6 assists in a July 24th win over the Connecticut Sun, and Jackson led the way with 24 points and the game-winner on July 26th.

Cameron Brink’s looming return should elevate the Sparks

The Sparks will soon benefit from the return of 2024 No. 2 pick Cameron Brink, who tore her ACL last summer and is expected to return to action in the coming days. Brink has been sidelined for 13 months, but has officially been cleared to return and is working back into game rhythm, Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts told reporters this past week.

Before her injury, Brink had already established herself as one of the WNBA’s elite defenders, averaging 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, and 1.1 steals. Currently, the Sparks have the league’s third-worst defensive rating and the third-fewest blocks per game. Brink, who was named the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award in college in 2024, will surely elevate that.

The Sparks have not made the playoffs since 2020 — the longest postseason drought in franchise history and the WNBA. If everything comes together in the home stretch of the regular season, that could change this fall.