Portland matches up against their sister team in Toronto’s first visit to the Fire Pit. What could have been the Fire’s biggest-ever win almost became the franchise’s biggest-ever fumbled lead as the game closed close. Since my new season goal for the Fire is to #BeatTheTempo, paired with some lineup changes and a bonus interview after the game, this was a thrilling night to be at the Moda Center.

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/

The first quarter started with errors and misses for the Fire, and two Marina Mabrey bombs-away three’s, and felt like it had potential to be a long, tough night. Pretty quickly after those opening minutes, though, it was clear that no one on Toronto was going to have the night of their life – Mabrey, after hitting those two iconic-style three’s, made exactly one more shot the rest of the night.

But let’s give credit where it is properly due: the Fire’s defense was awesome in this one. Nydaiew Puoch, who has been guarding opposing point-guards, took the Marina Mabrey assignment, and played it great: didn’t give a lot of space on the perimeter, and most importantly didn’t fall for Marina’s rage-baiting. Carleton, who guarded Mabrey a fair amount, was definitely close to throwing a little shove at points, and so was Serah Williams, who has definitely earned some unnecessary fouls this season against veterans who know how to draw fouls. Puoch also got a NARSTY block on a Mabrey three-point attempt in the second half that inspired me to make a couch-noise that my partner admitted to never hearing from me before. NARSTY, bruv.

Some of the best defensive plays came from the most emotionally satisfying performer of the game: rookie and developmental player Jordan Harrison, who played in her first game since July 18th after a late-breaking minor injury to Teja Oblak (who warmed up and looked mostly fine, but did not play). Harrison looked markedly improved from her first few games, moving with real authority and running the offense with much more assurance. She had two frustrating turnovers, but followed both of them up with 1-on-1 deflections that killed the resulting momentum, which was thrilling to see live. She also hit two of her three 3-point attempts which lit up the crowd, who loves to support her.

Anyways, Portland jumped to a lead in the first, and never gave it up. The game and crowd were rocking, everyone happy to have a clear win, though Toronto outscored PDX by 8 in the fourth to put a bit of a scare in the crowd. The building definitely got a little quiet. But, after several possessions in a row where Portland failed to make, or take, a shot, the crowd started organically cheering them on to try and change the energy, and it felt great to make something out of nothing.

Carleton’s cooking. Back-to-back double-doubles with points and rebounds, which is deeply needed without Sarah Ashlee available to grab a bunch of rebounds. Carleton actually leads the team (by .2%) in rebounding % in the last four games. Carleton has simply become more confident in all parts of her game, it seems, since the all-star break. Maybe she’s a little sour she didn’t get to be the Fire’s first, and would-have-been only All-Star? Who could say.

The closing lineup (Leite, Samuelson, Carleton, Engstler, Dileo), who have been together in the four games since SA’s injury, played well in the fourth quarter that saw a big comeback from Toronto. The real problem in those last 10 minutes was the bench units, as Puoch, Williams, Winterburn, and Bühner were all -10 or -11 in very few minutes. This new closing group has started this portion of the season in the red, so it’s fulfilling to see them succeed while there is still a lot of basketball left to play this season.

Nika Muhl is in Portland, and is already serving (I don’t know what that means). Her fit at her first game was elite, and images made to promote and interview with her after the night’s game were filled with former fire fits. It was heartwarming to hear her talk about feeling supported and valued and excited to be in the environment that Portland provides, as a staff and as a fan-base. She was getting up shots at the gym the other day, so the work has already begun. Just in time, too, because the Fire’s new practice facility that will pair them with the Thorns is set to open any day now. I’ll share everything I learn about that place when the news breaks.

Dude was getting to the line this game: 17 free-throws attempted in this one, as Leite broke through a small cold-streak, not so much cold in production but cold in the Med/Carla pick-and-roll actually creating good quality opportunities. Leite, according to one WNBA stat account on social media, is the youngest player ever to have multiple 20+ point/10+ assist double-doubles in one season. God, it’s nice to have her on our team.

This was one of the best games the Fire have played, and another one of their best came in Toronto. They definitely have the Big Sister title-belt in this 2026 Expansion matchup, and it’s my favorite belt they could have this season.

The upcoming stretch of games (outside of hosting Minnesota) are against the cohort of teams that Portland was theoretically in a playoff race against. The Fire are not mathematically eliminated yet, so they have one chance to go one a massively successful run of wins to make a push. We love to have hope available to us!

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

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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