Kelsey Plum remains a bright spot in this current Los Angeles Sparks team that is struggling to hit some consistent form. Their best scorer from last year is once again leading them from the front.

Kelsey Plum got her first double-double of the season as the Los Angeles Sparks won against the struggling Seattle Storm. The night was capped by a stellar performance from veteran Nneka Ogwumike, who got on the board with 24 PTS as well. Plum finished the night with 19 PTS, 11 AST, and 1 REB. This was the 8th double-double of her career.

While the Sparks are now 6-6 for the season, things are very fragile behind the curtain. And Plum shares this sentiment as well.

“You show up every night, and you do your job,” she said to the media after their previous game against Portland. “That’s what we need to do every night.”

She was clearly trying to encourage the team to take ownership and get back on defense. Rightly so as well. She later points out a fact about this Sparks team that no fan would want to hear-” When you have the worst defensive rating of all time in the W, I mean, you tell me.”

After the latest road win against Storm, one can say that her mood has somewhat shifted.

“I thought we grew up tonight,” she said to the press after the game.

Plum remains the burning light of this Sparks team. They are currently trying to fix roster issues, injuries, and form issues all at the same time.

While Plum delivers, The Sparks struggle defensively

Kelsey Plum is leading the Sparks offense. She is not only the top scorer in the team, but she is also 2nd in the league. Only narrowly behind A’ja Wilson’s 25.9 at 25.5. She is also 5th in the league on assists. This means that she is also enabling others around her to score as well.

But these stats are not fooling anybody. Experts and analysts are blasting the defensive shape of this team.

They have the worst defensive rating in the league at 112.1. They have the 2nd worst record for defensive rebounds. They are giving away easy shots. This team is extremely offense-heavy. They are relying on Plum to get them out of trouble every game.

Had veterans like Nneka Ogwumike not stepped up, the Sparks would have been in trouble. For now, she is putting up impressive numbers in scoring and rebounding. She is 8th in the league in rebounds. But they have to think of the future. Nneka is already almost 36. She can’t cover for them forever.

They have relied on stopgap solutions this season. Kate Martin, who is on a development league contract, has started several games. Even against the win against the Storm, she played for 8 minutes. As per the rules, she can only feature in a maximum of 12 games.

Playing Kate Martin ahead of 4 starters speaks to trouble for the Sparks. It conveys the message that Coach Lynn does not trust the players ahead of her fully. Kelsey Plum has been vocal in support of Martin and wants her on the team as a regular. But there is no space on the Sparks roster as of now. This is another decision that Sparks needs to make urgently. If they are trying to push for the playoffs this season.

Martin looks like a solid prospect. But will the Sparks sacrifice another player for her?

The Sparks need to quickly sort these issues if they hope to use Kelsey Plum to her fullest and win any kind of silverware in this Plum era.