Las Vegas Aces slasher and former No. 1 overall pick Kelsey Plum has long been dubbed the James Harden of women’s basketball based on her play style and status as a lefty. This was especially true when Plum played at the University of Washington, with the Huskies totally running their offense through her. In Vegas, Plum got off to a slower start (like Harden in OKC) and now has some high-profile co-stars in Liz Cambage, A’ja Wilson, and Kayla McBride (not quite Durant-Westbrook-Ibaka in style, but still).
Kelsey Plum really is the WNBA’s James Harden
We have that and more in Wednesday’s NBA newsletter.
Photo by Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images
In the Aces’ dramatic Saturday win over the Sky, Plum hit a one-legged sidestep three — rumored to be Harden’s new NBA move — with Harden sitting courtside. The Beard’s reaction was priceless.
It doesn’t appear Harden attended Tuesday’s Aces game against the Mystics, but Plum had another Hardenesque moment. With the clock running down and Las Vegas trailing by two, Plum drove the floor and launched herself sideways and backwards when pulling up for the tying shot, attempting to draw a foul on the trailing, defending Elena Della Donne. The refs swallowed the whistle, the shot missed, and the Aces lost.
Star scorers trying to draw fouls instead of taking the best shots they can? Check!
The Aces were actually more mad about the fact that coach Bill Laimbeer apparently tried to call timeout repeatedly as Plum drove the floor, but the refs didn’t grant the timeout for whatever reason.
Game 2 is Thursday.
Scores
Sparks 75, Sun 84
Sun lead 1-0
Aces 95, Mystics 97
Mystics lead 1-0
Schedule
Sparks at Sun, Game 2, 6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, ESPN2
Aces at Mystics, Game 2, 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, ESPN2
Links
Programming note: barring major news, no newsletter on Thursday. See you Friday.
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Be excellent to each other.
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