Are you not entertained? The Portland Fire again found some fourth-quarter magic, this time disposing of their rivals from up the I-5, the Seattle Storm, in dramatic fashion 94-89. August 9, 2002 was the last time these two cities faced off in WNBA action, nearly 24 years ago. That game ended in a Seattle victory, but the new era begins with an amazing Fire win in front of 13,084 delirious Portland Fire fans.
Seattle’s Dominique Malonga led all scores with 28 points and also showed the way with 11
boards. Small Forward Bridget Carleton recorded a career-high 24 points for the Fire.
The first quarter was decided by runs for both teams. It was the Fire’s turn first. By the time the Storm called their first timeout with 6:42 to play in the first quarter, the Fire had doubled up the Storm 14-7, largely on 4-5 shooting from three. The Storm however finished on a 16-5 run of their own to take a 23-21 lead after one. Improved Storm defense and better shooting was the difference in Seattle’s run.
It became much more of a back-and-forth affair until the third quarter, when Portland went ice cold. Making matters worse, Seattle was getting easy baskets on the other end, punctuated by the occasional three-pointer. The Storm extended their lead to as many as 12. As has been the case quite often this season, the Fire got back into the game largely through their defense. The Storm weren’t going away, but the Fire did get the lead down to seven at the end of the third.
Would the fourth quarter be kind to the Fire as it has been numerous times this season before? Why yes, it would, but it wouldn’t be easy. Every time Portland would make a little run, Seattle would be there with a big three or a huge play from one of their bigs to sap the momentum. That’s when with 2:22 left on the clock, down by four, the Fire caught a break. Portland’s Carla Leite was caught in the neck with a forearm by Jade Melbourne during a loose-ball scramble, a foul that was upgraded to a flagrant-1. Leite made the ensuing two free throws, followed in quick succession by center Megan Gustafson hitting a three, a miss from Seattle, and a turnaround jumper from power forward Emily Engstler. Suddenly the Fire had flipped the script, taking a two-point lead in the blink of an eye. More good defense from Portland and a dagger three from Carleton all but sealed the victory. After another miss by the Storm, the Fire were inexplicably not fouled, allowing them to run the clock down to seven seconds before they turned the ball over. One more miss for Seattle and the Fire had secured yet another fourth-quarter crunch-time win.
Points in the Paint
This was a disappointing area for the game. On the stat sheet the Storm won this statistic 40-18. From the eye test the Fire would have been a lot closer if more of their layups and bunnies went in. Seattle will argue that they disrupted those shots, but frankly too many of them were just smoked by Portland.
Shooting Percentage
This is partly a continuation of the point above, but the Fire only shot 38.6% from the field. Fortunately, Portland shot 40.5% from beyond the arc, helping to offset the poor shooting from closer areas of the court. 23 made free throws at 85.2% also proved to be crucial, especially as the Storm only had 16 points from their 19 free throws.
Dominique Malonga
The Storm’s Malonga had her double-double halfway through the third quarter and just dominated the Fire for most of the game. She scored 28 points on 63.2% shooting from the field, along with 11 rebounds and 3 blocks. Portland was never able to quiet Seattle’s center, but they did slow her down just enough when it counted to come away with the win.
Block Party
The Storm are a long team, but the Fire have demonstrated a knack for getting blocks against taller opponents. Tonight was no different as the Fire had seven blocks to three for the Storm. Until the fourth quarter, Seattle had zero. Bridget Carleton took top honors for the Fire with three blocks.
Samuelson on Samuelson
One of the fun angles of tonight’s game was that two sisters got to share the court and even guarded each other at times. Fire guard Karlie Samuelson took the family honors with 10 points, while Katie Lou Samuelson of the Storm was held scoreless.
Up Next
The Fire get a full week off before hitting the road for four games. First up will be two games at the Chicago Sky, kicking off with a 5:00 PM PDT tilt on Wednesday, Jun 24, followed by round two a half hour earlier on Friday, Jun 26.
