Paige Bueckers went bananas on Wednesday night against the LA Sparks, scoring a rookie record 44 points on an absurd 80.1% clip. Bueckers' historic performance garnered reactions from a couple of NBA stars in Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies and Chet Holmgren of the OKC Thunder.
The Dallas Wings rookie scored 44 points on 17-for-21 shooting inside the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. She wowed the crowd with her hot shooting, going perfect from beyond the arc at 4-for-4 and from the charity stripe at 6-for-6. It was also the most points scored in the WNBA this season.
However, it wasn't enough as the Wings suffered an 81-80 loss to the Sparks. Kelsey Plum ruined the moment for Bueckers by hitting a game-winning shot at the buzzer to give LA an important win and keep their playoff hopes alive.

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Despite the loss, Paige Bueckers was celebrated on social media by fans, peers and NBA stars like Ja Morant and Chet Holmgren.
Bueckers began the game with just six points in the first quarter before adding eight more in the second. She went berserk in the second half, scoring 15 in the third quarter and 13 of the Dallas Wings' 14 points in the final period. She didn't get enough help from her teammates in the fourth quarter on both sides of the floor.
During the final play of the game, Kelsey Plum forced the switch on Luisa Geiselsoder, who was unable to stay in front of the LA Sparks guard. Plum had an open lane to the basket since there was no help to challenge the shot. She banked it home at the buzzer to give the Sparks the 81-80 win.
What records did Paige Bueckers set with her 44-point performance?

Paige Bueckers made a lot of history with her 44-point performance on Wednesday night in Hollywood. As mentioned above, Bueckers scored a rookie record, which is tied with Cynthia Cooper, who did the feat back in 1997.
According to CBS Sports, Bueckers also became the first player in WNBA history to have at least 40 points on at least 80% shooting from the field. He was on fire for the entirety of the game, missing just four shots in total.
Bueckers' 44 points are tied for the third-highest in the Wings franchise history, while it's also the most points scored by a player in a regulation loss ever.
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