The Portland Fire couldn’t complete a fourth-quarter comeback at the Moda Center Friday night, falling 78-72 to the Phoenix Mercury.
The Fire trailed for most of the game before an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter gave them their first lead after center Luisa Geiselsöder and guard Teja Oblak hit back-to-back threes. That lead was short-lived, however, as the Mercury quickly made a three of their own to take it back. Sarah Ashlee Barker came up clutch once again with a three-pointer with three minutes
left to give Portland the lead again, but Phoenix pulled away for good shortly after.
Barker led the Fire in scoring with 15 points in the game while earning her first start of the season. Karlie Samuelson finished with 13 points, including making her first four attempts from deep to help keep Portland afloat through a rough start.
DeWanna Bonner was the leading scorer in the game with 19 points for the Mercury. She was helped by Natasha Mack’s 16-point performance.
Here are some key takeaways from the game.
Star Struggles
Guard Carla Leite and forward Bridget Carleton, the Fire’s two leading scorers this season, combined for just 13 points on 4/15 shooting from the field. Without their normal contributions, Portland struggled to find consistent offense throughout the game. The Fire often found themselves in need of a basket to help shift the momentum, but were unable to find it through their top scoring options.
In addition to Barker and Samuelson stepping up, Oblak scored 11 points while making all four of her attempts from the field. It was a showcase of Portland’s depth as they were able to contribute and help make up for Leite and Carleton’s struggles. However, it was not enough as the Fire could not complete the comeback late.
Taking Care Of The Ball
Massive turnover numbers are becoming an unfortunate theme of Portland losses. This game, it was 22 turnovers leading to 23 Phoenix points on the other end. The Fire only forced 12 turnovers and got 8 points off of them. That discrepancy was a massive factor in a game in which both teams shot so poorly. With the amount of easy opportunities in transition that the Mercury had, they were able to hold the lead for most of the game and have a buffer for when the Fire got hot late.
Oblak and Carleton both finished the game with four turnovers and Leite and Geiselsöder had three each. No Phoenix player had more than two turnovers.
Karlie Samuelson
Samuelson made her fifth appearance as a member of the Fire after missing the early-season games with an injury. Prior to this contest, she had missed all 10 of her attempts from deep. This game, she found her shot again.
She made her first four attempts from behind the arc before missing her final shot. She is a career 38.1% shooter from deep, and this game showed what she can do for the Portland offense when her shot is falling. Of course, with how poor everyone else shot, Samuelson seemed more like a bright spot on an otherwise bad night, but the idea of what she can do as a floor spacer most nights was on full display. Her ability to knock down shots from deep opened the lane for Leite and Carleton, and most nights that will lead to baskets for that pair.
Rebounding Battle
So far this season, the Fire are the WNBA’s worst rebounding team. The Mercury also sit in the bottom third of the league, but they average five rebounds more per game. However, this game, it was Portland dominating the glass. The Fire won the rebounding battle 32-24 in the game, led by Barker’s 7 boards.
Up Next
The Fire are back in action on Sunday, June 7th at 4:00 p.m. PDT when they travel to take on the Los Angeles Sparks.
