The Portland Fire won a battle of WNBA expansion teams on Saturday in emphatic fashion, defeating the Toronto Tempo 99-80 in Toronto. Five Fire players finished in double figures, with Emily Engstler leading the way with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks. Marina Mabrey and Kiki Rice led all scorers, both with 19 points for the Tempo. The Fire got their first road win after an excellent effort north of the border.
The Fire are earning a reputation for high effort, a never-say-die attitude, and relentless
defending. All of those things were on display in the first quarter. Portland started ice cold, missing their first eight shots, not scoring until 6:53 remaining in the first quarter when Carla Leite converted a pair of free-throws. It would take another minute or so of game time before the they managed a field goal. The Fire still made everything difficult for the Tempo, keeping them within shouting distance as they weathered their early drought. An 8-0 run for Portland erased the early deficit. Portland got their noses in front briefly. They had survived the slow start. The first quarter ended knotted up at 16 apiece.
The second quarter started as a back-and-forth affair, but Toronto soon got out to a nine-point lead off of fast break points and three-point shooting. After the 11-0 Tempo run Portland fought back as you’d expect, knotting it up at 44 at the half.
A great start to the second half saw the Fire score five quick points, forcing an early Tempo timeout. There was no letting up for the Fire after that as they extended the lead to as many as nine points in the third on excellent shooting from deep and stingy defense. A series of rim-outs on three pointers for the Fire allowed the Tempo to cut the lead to five at the end of three.
The fourth quarter belonged to Portland as they extended the lead into double figures in rather short order. From then on they cruised home without a serious threat.
Here are some things that stood out.
Blocks
Portland has quietly established themselves as a team that can snuff out weak efforts in the paint. They came into this game second in blocks in the WNBA with five per game. Today they had five in the first half, finishing with seven, four of which were delivered by Engstler. Not everything has gone according to play for the Fire bigs so far this season, but blocks are something they can continue to build on.
Fast Breaks
The biggest black mark on the day was the number of times Portland let the Tempo leak out and get easy fast break points. It’s not too often you give up more than twice as many fast break points as you get yourself, yet you still win by 19, but that’s exactly what happened today. The 16 fast break points Portland allowed will at least give Fire head coach Alex Sarama something to talk about.
Keeping Sykes in Check
Brittney Sykes has had a tremendous start to the season for Toronto, averaging 22.3 per game. Portland held her to 10 hard-earned points, a great achievement.
Great Offensive Spacing
The Fire looked much better this game getting their offense in gear after a very slow start in the first quarter. The key to a successful halfcourt game is getting spacing right, forcing defenders to make tough choices as to how they want to defend. Portland did really well today. Shooting 47.8% from deep helped an enormous amount. When Toronto tried to defend the arc Portland did an excellent job passing around the outside, setting screens, and moving without the ball. The result was pretty pick and rolls as well as dives to the basket for and-ones. The Fire coaches and players will enjoy watching much of the game tape on this one.
Up Next
One more game remains to wrap up the road trip before heading home, a contest against the New York Liberty in Brooklyn. Tip is scheduled for 5:00 PM PDT on Monday, May 25.
