Portland Fire Comeback Falls Short Against Phoenix, 78-72
An experimental new lineup kept the game close, but Phoenix pulled ahead of the Rose City's young expansion team late.
Earlier this week, Portland Fire head coach Alex Sarama was named the WNBA’s Coach of the Month. Fresh off a difficult loss at Golden State, the league’s youngest leader experimented with a new lineup, plugging in two new starters.
Despite the tinkering, Portland trailed for most of the night, and fell to Phoenix 78-72.
That experimental lineup featured Spain international Megan Gustafson ahead of German center Luisa Geiselsöder. The first year coach also moved Aussie rookie Nyadiew Puoch to the bench, pairing expansion draft pick Sarah Ashlee Barker with star guard Carla Leite, while slotting two-way standouts Bridget Carleton and Emily Engstler on the wings. Together, the starters formed the core of a 4-1 dribble-drive motion offense.
Trailing 5-0 after two minutes, Leite broke free on a screen, backed up, and drilled a deep three from the right wing. Two minutes later, she scored again from close range. At the six minute mark, the French guard accounted for all five of Portland’s points.
From there, momentum flipped between the two sides, with Phoenix transition baskets setting up a 10-2 run, before Portland full court pressure curried favor back towards the home team. In the opening period, the Fire forced 6 Mercury turnovers.
In the final seconds of the first quarter, Engstler drove into the paint, striking nylons with a finger roll, and the buzzer rang with Portland trailing 21-16.
No matter how close Portland climbed, it wasn’t enough. The early minutes of the second quarter saw Phoenix match the Fire’s full court pressure with ferocity of their own, forcing an eight-second violation with 7:13 left, and maintaining a nine point lead. That margin shrank after a pair of buckets by Carleton, 31-24 Phoenix with 5:23 remaining, inspiring the Fire to fight back.
In a play that will likely be replayed in season highlight reels, the second year big Geiselsöder whipped a bounce pass to Euro veteran guard Teja Oblak, who raced unguarded to the hoop. With 4:16 left in the half, Phoenix led by five. Then, a Karlie Samuelson trey shaved the deficit to 34-29 with 2:53 remaining.
Moments after denying a Phoenix floater, the WNBA’s leading shot-blocker Engstler aimed a buzzer-beating three. The Portland forward scraped iron, inspiring oohs & ahhs from the anguished home crowd, and Phoenix took a 38-34 lead into halftime. Leite and Samuelson flashed atop Portland’s scoreboard with 7 points apiece, but the Fire shot only 38.7% as a team, and turned the ball over 10 times.
Portland’s icy offense warmed up in the third quarter, with a beautiful connection midway through the period. First, Leite drew a double team on the right edge of the perimeter. She then fed German rookie Frieda Bühner inside, whose penetration collapsed the defense, leaving Samuelson free behind the arc. Following the former London Lion’s third made three of the night, Portland trailed 44-39 with 5:15 remaining.
Late in the quarter, the Fire tried a packline defense, clogging passing lanes inside. The tactic paid dividends, with Gustafson swatting a Mercury pass across the perimeter, and then Carleton diving on the loose ball. Despite an agonizingly-close missed buzzer-beater by Barker, who heaved the rock from 3/4 court, Portland entered the fourth quarter down just 55-51.
With ten minutes of action remaining, the reserve guard Samuelson led all Fire shooters with 13 points across 13 minutes, thanks to a perfect 4/4 shooting clip.
Already accustomed to comebacks this season, Portland tried to start one early in the fourth. With 8:10 left, Carleton found Gustafson open behind the three point line. The Spain international’s trey trimmed the deficit to 3. Then, coming out of a timeout, Geiselsöder and Oblak hit back-to-back threes to complete the comeback. At the 4:31 mark, Portland held their first lead of the night.
From there, Mercury physicality proved the difference, as Phoenix leveraged Monique Akoa Makani’s length to disrupt passes. Gifted extra possessions in transition, the Mercury found forward DeWanna Bonner down low. Coming out of a timeout with 45.1 on the clock, Phoenix led 73-67.
After a pair of Natasha Mack free throws with 25.9 left, the margin was three possessions wide, 77-69 Phoenix. At the final buzzer, the Mercury escaped Portland up 78-72.
A month after making franchise history with a last-second buzzer-beater in Portland’s first win, Sarah Ashlee Barker led all Fire scorers with 15 points on 60% field goal shooting and a fiery 50% three point rate. She also hauled in 7 rebounds.
Tonight’s loss drops Portland to 6-5 on the season. The Fire will play again Sunday evening against Barker’s former team, the Los Angeles Sparks, with tip-off slated for 4 PM PST.
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Matt Bagley is a professional sportswriter with a passion for women’s sports. Outside of work, he cherishes quality time with his birth family, his chosen family, and one very pesky house panther.
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