I ate shit on my bike on the way to the game, and just like the Fire, I didn’t give up when things were looking tough near the end. We both came away victorious.

Let’s talk about it.

These are an old set of standardized “only stats that matter”. Here’s a fun explainer video from Molly Brown on Instagram, who is going to be a great follow for any fan of my writing here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXusixFkrAA/

A much needed win for Portland, especially after correcting a lot of mistakes in the Aces game but still coming up short. A wonderful back-and-forth game that featured huge bummers and huge thrills. The hometown crowd was great.

The Fire had a season-high in assists: 26 on 30 made shots, which is the fourth highest assist % in a game in the W this season (86.7%). Carla Leite once again threw 8 assists, bumping her up to 10th in the league with 5.5/game this season. Coach Sarama talked in the post-game press conference about the staff pushing Carla to be more aggressive with her passing decisions after a couple of games of her trying to win with her scoring; the variety Leite is capable of is a powerful tool that leads to big performances like this Dallas game.

Both teams had frustrating struggles: Portland missed what felt like wide-open layups throughout the night, and Dallas shot just 18-of-26 (69.2%) from the free-throw line. Winning/losing by a single point makes those moments feel massive. But both teams also had hot streaks: Arike Ogunbowale had 10 points in the second quarter, Bridget Carleton had 11 in the same quarter, Aziaha James was 4/4 for 11 points in the third quarter. Both teams made great shots at various points. This game kind of had everything!

After getting completely dominated on the glass against Las Vegas, Portland did better in the rebounding game, but still grabbed less, 32 to Dallas’ 41. But every starter had 4 or more rebounds, showing that the whole roster was much more focused on helping to secure the ball after a shot, which is a great sign.

Dallas used a very short and tight rotation as their coaching staff exists on the opposite end of the bench-usage spectrum. I am not deep into Dallas Wings strategy this season, but there are names on their roster that don’t play very much, or at all, that make me curious, especially when they seem frequently undersized and, tonight, short-handed due to injury. I’d love to know more!

Portland’s rotations had an interesting wrinkle: Serah Williams, who hasn’t played much until the second half of the Aces game, played about 6 minutes in the first half, but then didn’t play again (Portland was -8 in those minutes). The Fire shrunk to a 9-player rotation for the final three quarters, an unusual move for them. The Nyadiew Puoch injury is the likely explanation, but even with a roster spot open, Williams did not get a ton of run.

The Wings’ largest lead was just 4 points, and it came with 1:05 left in the game. Dallas finally seemed ready to take control. But then the Fire snatched control back. Let’s let the buckets speak for themselves:

This game was emblematic of Fire basketball: getting off the ball quicker, attacking more in transition, lots of pick and roll, lots of different ways to run your pick and rolls, and clutch moments coming from all over the roster. Big props to Emily Engstler, who’s 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 stocks (steals and blocks) came in huge moments, especially two clutch free-throws late in the fourth quarter.

This is twice in four games that an opponent surprisingly sat their star player(s) on the day of the game: the Phoenix Mercury sat Alyssa Thomas and Kah Copper, and Dallas sat Paige Bueckers. I don’t know if opponents are trying to steal some rest against an expansion team (I do doubt it, since both of these teams are trying to win as many games as they can this season), but it is starting to feel suspicious!

The Portland Fire have a Commissioner’s Cup win! They will not be making the CC finals. This is not a thing worth caring that much about. I just thought it was funny.

A career high in 3-point makes for Bridget (six), Carleton actually missed two or three or four great looks from close to the basket that could have given her another 4 to 8 points in this contest. She, like several other Fire players, was bit by the Bunny Bug, missing some layups that W players hit 99% of the time.

Carleton was clutch, efficient, and tough; exactly what the best version of herself is capable of.

A beautiful summer day in Portland, punctuated by a Fire (and a Knicks) win. Having these games in the middle of vacation, camping, trip season is going to occasionally feel burdensome, but having 15,000 people roam the city in the sunshine to get together, to commune, around women’s sports is magic.

The Fire now fly to Minnesota to play maybe their toughest game on paper: at the Minnesota Lynx, who have (tied for) the best record in the league. A return to Carleton’s recent stomping grounds, a chance to stack wins, and a chance to beat a Lynx team that lost their last game. I hope we get to see Nyadiew Puoch try and defend Olivia Miles. 👀

Have questions? Submit them through the link below, and I’ll answer them periodically!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSehNt8_EhXpWW7nvePd8eL5ZiXFe54l-DTyr74sH6n6l3RaKQ/viewform?usp=header

Points per Possession - how many points a team scores for every possession they have

Effective Field-Goal Percent (eFG%) - field goal percentage with weight added to three-point shots

Turnover Percent (TOV%) - percent of possessions that ended in a turnover

Offensive Rebound Percent (OREB%) - percent of a team’s own misses that they rebounded

Free-Throw Attempt Rate (FTA Rate) - how many free throws a team takes for each Field Goal attempted