Portland Fire Offense Fizzles Out vs New York Liberty

Breanna Stewart elevates and scores over the outstretched arms of Nyadiew Puoch.

Twenty-two-year-old French phenom Carla Leite cemented herself as one of the faces of the franchise not by her presence in a game, but by her absence. The starting point guard missed Thursday’s game due to an ankle injury, and her value to the team’s offensive identity became clear as the Portland Fire offense unraveled in the second half vs the New York Liberty.

As the Fire took the stage for their Prime Video national broadcast debut, the Liberty started off slow for the second straight game. Behind a hot start from Megan Gustafson, who had 14 off the bench in just 14 minutes, the Fire found themselves up 27-18 (Fire’s largest lead of the night) with 7:18 left in the second quarter. Strong games from Nyadiew Puoch (13 points) and Emily Engstler (11 points) kept the Fire’s flames burning going into the half as the Liberty only led by 2 (39-37).

The New York Liberty have championship DNA and they showed what greatness looks like coming out of the half. Alex Sarama’s defensive game plan was centered around trapping and limiting Breanna Stewart to force one of her teammates to beat the Fire — but it’s hard to stop a legend two games in a row. Stewart got hot early in the third quarter and didn’t look back, finishing with 22 points and 7 rebounds in 28 minutes. 

As for Stewart’s teammates, they were feeling it all night long. French rookie and early ROY candidate, Pauline Astier, continued her early season success with 20 points in 22 minutes. New York shot 51% from the field and 39% from three, continuing their hot shooting throughout their two games in the Rose City. By the end of the third quarter, the Liberty’s flowing offense had built a comfortable 70-53 lead. 

With Bridget Carleton struggling to find her shot offensively (11 points on 4-11 shooting), the hole left by Carla Leite was too large to fill. That didn’t stop The Fire Pit’s cheers as the Fire continued to show intensity and effort in what Alex Sarama referred to as “not garbage time but quality time”. During this quality time, Fire rookie Serah Williams scored her first WNBA point, a made free throw with 1:18 left in the game. She showed flashes of great energy and help defense in her limited minutes. 

The New York Liberty ultimately defeated the Portland Fire 100-82, but you wouldn’t know that just by listening to the crowd. After the game, Nyadiew Puoch described her experience playing in front of The Fire Pit so far this season:

“Whether we’re up or down they’re always getting around us and it makes it easy to perform and want to go out and play for them and ourselves.”

The Fire crowd is already earning a reputation around the league as one of the loudest in the WNBA. Portland hopes to continue that trend as they face a beatable Connecticut Sun (0-3) team on Monday. 

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭’𝐬 𝐌𝐕𝐏𝐬:

Megan Gustafson and Nyadiew Puoch. Meg provided offensive stability early on to give the Fire a chance going into the second half. Nyadiew had her best offensive game of her career, continuing to display her offensive versatility and long term potential. 

𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞:

Portland Fire (1-2) vs Connecticut Sun (0-3), 7PM Monday at Moda Center (Live TV: Rose City SportsNet).