The Portland Fire came roaring back in front of 14,612 fans Saturday night with a satisfying, if not gritty and hard-fought, 84-83 win over the Dallas Wings. The victory put a pin in a grueling four-game losing streak that started when the Golden State Valkyries trounced the Fire 95-77 on June 2, and ended when the Las Vegas Aces departed town after delivering a punishing 105-89 loss on June 11.
The Wings soared into the Fire Pit without the team’s star Paige Bueckers, who was selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. (Bueckers missed the game with an ankle injury, and probably, no one was more frustrated about it than she.) That didn’t necessarily make anything easier for the Fire, who ultimately came ahead thanks to a free throw from our resident blocks leader (currently second in the league) and all-around engine, Emily Engstler, after an intense back-and-forth in the final quarter.
Yet again, the Fire delivered a win as part of a full-team effort. Bridget Carleton ended the night with 20 points, Megan Gustafson had 16, Engstler landed 11, and Sarah Ashlee Barker and Carla Leite had 10 apiece.
That collective performance was top of mind for Alex Sarama when he addressed reporters after the bout. The Fire ended the night with 26 assists, eight of which were credited to Leite alone. Sarama said the coaching staff has been “challenging Leite to make her teammates better,” and Saturday’s win offered the first glimpse at what that might look like.
Carleton’s 20 points included six three-pointers, a feat that showcased her “incredible poise,” Sarama also said. “That’s all the CLA (Constraints-Led Approach) stuff we’re practicing, where she just turned around, leaned off balance, and got it off there. The fact that she took 10 threes… that’s what’s most encouraging. We’ve got to keep making sure we’re very purposeful with that, because it’s a huge part of our offense.”
In other words, Sarama’s system still might not make sense to you, but it’s definitely making sense to the people who are putting the ball in the basket.
Despite the team’s recent losses, Sarama said that there hasn’t been a great sense of urgency or panic—just a focus on being better. “We’re always, whether it’s a win or loss, self-evaluating, always being critical,” he explained. The team’s 89-72 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on June 7 was “the only stretch during that four-game run where it wasn’t really us.”
The Aces’ A’ja Wilson might just be impossible to beat.
They might have lost the game, but the Fire’s defeat at the hands of the Aces was largely out of their control. It’s a lot to host four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, quite possibly the best women’s professional basketball player in the world right now, and Chelsea Gray, who apparently decided it was time to teach league newcomers a lesson. Wilson put up a game-best 32 points, and Gray added on another 29 of her own.
(Chelsea! These people have families!)
Apart from those two, who offered powerhouse performances, the Aces are the league’s defending champions, and for those who are new to watching the WNBA, the June 11 game offered a glimpse into exactly why. The game was physical from the beginning, a fact that was entirely due to the Fire—who initially held a 10-9 lead in the first.
But the Aces are always willing to match and exceed energy, something that became clear after NaLyssa Smith was hit with a flagrant foul, and Wilson started hitting shots from the free throw line. Things were close at the half, when the Fire was up 56-50, but Wilson was an unstoppable force, and ultimately shut down two Fire runs (in the third quarter, when Gustafson—a former member of the Aces—cut the team’s lead to three and again in the fourth, when Gray casually hit her eighth three-pointer of the night).
In the end, there’s not a lot you can do when Wilson and Gray decide to combine for 62 points.
Next up: the Fire reawakens an ancient rivalry with the Seattle Storm.
The 2000-2002 seasons were host to one of the most organic rivalries the WNBA has seen. Portland and Seattle are just under 175 miles from one another, and the two teams immediately kicked off a series of cutthroat games after the Fire joined the league.
All of that will come roaring back on June 17 when Portland hosts the Storm for the first time in the regular season, the first game of the league’s recently named Rivalry Series.
“The history between the Fire and the Storm carries such rich stories, both for the athletes competing, and the fans who have rallied behind these teams,” said Fire Interim President Clare Hamill in a statement shared by the WNBA. “The Rivalry Series games are circled on everyone’s calendars for a reason—world-class WNBA basketball in the Pacific Northwest, and what this represents for the next generation of fans, players, and our communities.”
The Fire will need all the support they can get, especially because the team is 5-4 in the series and has the historic edge over the Storm—and they want to keep it that way. The game kicks off at 7 pm, and tickets currently start at $16.38.