LAS VEGAS — Kelsey Plum poured in 38 points and dished out nine assists Saturday night, leading the Los Angeles Sparks to a 101-95 victory over the Las Vegas Aces at Michelob Ultra Arena and snapping the Aces’ four-game winning streak.

The Aces (4-2) had raised their 2025 WNBA championship banner before the game, a ceremony reminiscent of the season-opening loss to Phoenix after receiving championship rings. But this time, Las Vegas led 73-72 entering the fourth quarter before the Sparks opened the final period on an 8-0 run, capped by a Erica Wheeler 3-pointer. The Acs never regained the lead.

A’ja Wilson led the Aces with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Her two free throws with 1:36 left tied the game at 94, but Wheeler answered with a 3-pointer 21 seconds later to put Los Angeles ahead for good.

“She’s an elite scorer. She’s a world-class scorer. We know that very well,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said of Plum. “Their whole, entire team was just too comfortable from the jump. It wasn’t just her. … We’ve got to do a better job there.”

Chennedy Carter contributed 23 points off the bench, and NaLyssa Smith added 22 points and nine rebounds. Chelsea Gray finished with 12 points and seven assists, while Jewell Loyd hit three 3-pointers for 10 points.

Cameron Brink had 16 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 7:36 left in the fourth quarter. Dearica Hamby also scored 16 for the Sparks (3-3).

The Aces’ defense struggled from the start, as Los Angeles shot 12 of 18 in the first quarter. Plum had 14 points in the opening period, making all four of her 3-point attempts. The game featured 19 lead changes and 13 ties.

“Our defense was just nonexistent today,” Wilson said. “We had spurts where we played and it was good. But the majority of the game, we were playing catch-up. I don’t think it was necessarily just the pace of the game. It was just the want-to factor of wanting to actually play defense and execute on that side of the basketball. We’ve got to do better when it comes to that.”

Hammon cited poor shot selection as a contributing factor: “I thought we had some quick shots that I didn’t like, which those are almost like live-ball turnovers when you take bad shots and it’s off to the races and it’s really hard to recover from. If we can clean up the offensive end a little bit, I think it helps our defense.”