Paige Bueckers sets unbelievable record while making Kelsey Plum eat her words

By now, you've heard about the insane 44-point performance Paige Bueckers turned in against the Los Angeles Sparks last night. But did you know that she is the first player in WNBA history to score over 40 points while shooting 80% from the field? Bueckers went 17-21 last night. That's 81%, making it one of the most impressive displays of basketball we've ever seen by any metric.

It's unbelievably unfortunate to see such an exhibit of talent result in a loss, but the Dallas Wings are laughably undermanned. They're a young team with more injuries than any team in the league, and the hits only continue to come with JJ Quinerly going down, needing to be helped off the floor.

But we're going to look at the game inside the game. The Wings put up a strong fight, only losing by one point, but they weren't supposed to beat a surging Sparks team. But Bueckers was supposed to show Kelsey Plum that the two-time champ stands no chance at guarding her. In early June, the Sparks played the Wings, but Paige was out, and the two had some fun, but competitive words for each other.

Plum got the last laugh but Bueckers proved a strong point

There's a reason why stars show up to sit courtside for a team that's at the bottom of the standings of the W, and her name is Paige Bueckers. She's virtually unguardable as a three-level scorer with a shifty handle, a variety of moves, and a feathery touch. This is the second time she's proved that point to Plum, but this time she did it with an exclamation point.

The two faced off last week when the Sparks again won the game by one point, 97-96. Bueckers had 29 points on 12-21 that night. It was Kelsey's first time seeing the Rookie of the Year favorite up close and personal, and she didn't disappoint. But she turned it up a notch and left no doubt that when she's on, there's nothing you can do to stop her.

To Plum's credit, she's an experienced veteran with championship experience. As a 4x All-Star and former All-WNBA First Team player, she kept her focus despite not having the best shooting night overall. Plum Dawg scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, including the buzzer-beater to secure the victory. You'd think that moment would bring her joy, but she was ticked off instead.

*NSFW LANGUAGE*

If you watched that game closely, Plum was directly involved in many of those Paige buckets. Just as PB said in the first video, she put KP on the block, posted her up, and got busy. She also took her off the dribble, around screens, and did whatever else she wanted on the entire Sparks roster. It was masterful. I wonder if Kelsey remembers that conversation. If so, I wonder if she'll ever forget it.