Portland Sets the WNBA On Fire As They Completely Shut Down Caitlin Clark
The sold out Fire Pit burst into cheers on Saturday night as the Portland Fire dominated the Indiana Fever from start to finish, shutting down one of the WNBA’s biggest stars Caitlin Clark.
After the last game versus the Indiana Fever, Alex Sarama said “that wasn’t us”, but on Saturday night, he could do nothing but sit back and smile. The Portland Fire played their best game of the season in what was an Alex Sarama systemic masterclass on both sides of the ball. In the post game press conference, Sarama had nothing but praise for his team:
“I said to the team, I’ve never seen a team punish or pick a part a switching defense better than that my whole career…the level of detail and execution was just incredible on both ends…they keep on getting better with every game.”
The success of the game plan can’t be mentioned without bringing up Assistant Coach/General Manager Brittni Donaldson and her impact on player development, rotations, and on Saturday night specifically her scout (it was her job to evaluate the Fever and help develop a game plan to beat them). She’s been one of the most underrated hires by Portland as she was constantly praised throughout her time in the NBA by coaches and players alike, and the Fire are seeing firsthand why.
First Quarter
From the lines outside the arena, to the crowd around the Indiana Fever bench an hour before the game, to the amount of people wearing #22 Indiana Fever jerseys, it was clear Saturday night’s game was a bit different than usual for Fire fans. What wasn’t different was the Portland Fire not caring what people think, how many people believe in them, or how many “stars” are on the opposing team. The Fire just go out night in and night out and simply outwork you.
After Caitlin Clark found Aliyah Boston for a wide open layup in transition, the Indiana Fever were up 8-2 and were off to the start that everyone expected. However, after a 14-2 Portland run, the Fire found themselves out to a 21-10 lead and never looked back. Behind an incredible game overall and eight point first quarter from Megan Gustafson, the Portland Fire were able to take a 29-15 lead at the end of the first quarter over the heavily favored Indiana Fever team.
Second Quarter
Throughout the first quarter, the Portland Fire and head coach Alex Sarama made it clear that they were going to attack Caitlin Clark on offense and force her to either exert her energy defensively or rack up fouls early in the game. The Fire knew the Fever were going to switch on every screen, allowing them to isolate Clark whenever they wanted. Caitlin struggled all night to stay in front of her assignment, especially whenever it was Carla Leite, leading to Clark accumulating two early fouls in the quarter. It felt like every time Carla saw Caitlin guarding her, she would call for an iso and get downhill to either score, draw a foul, or force a double team leading to a wide open shot for a teammate. It was an uphill battle for Clark to stay on the court due to this foul trouble, leading to her only playing 21 minutes.
Thanks to Carla Leite and the Fire’s ability to continuous recognize and attack mismatches, Portland stayed scorching hot to start the second quarter, going on a 10-4 run to balloon their lead to 39-19. Less than 24 hours after what felt like their worst game of the season vs Atlanta, the Fire have seemingly fixed their issues overnight, going from a season high 28 turnovers the night before to just 12 vs the Fever.
The Fire’s offense slowed down a bit after some Carla Leite foul trouble as she received her third foul with 6:54 left in the second quarter. Emily Engstler also helped hold the lead throughout the quarter, scoring 5 of her 16 points as Portland found themselves with a 50-37 lead going into the half. Engstler continues to make her case for WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, adding 4 steals and 2 blocks to her league-leading 23 blocks so far this season (the next highest in the WNBA being Kiah Stokes with 14). With 34 games in the season, at 23 blocks Emily is 74 blocks away (Lisa Leslie in 2004 with 97) from recording a top 10 season in total blocks all time in the WNBA. That means Engstler would have to play every game for the rest of the season (34) and average 2.18 blocks per game (less than her current average of 2.3) in those games to have a chance at being up there with some of the greatest single seasons the WNBA has ever seen defensively. With the help of her coach Sylvia Fowles, who ranks 16th on the list of most blocks in a season with 88 in her 2010 season, why isn’t it possible for Engstler to reach those historic heights barring injury?
Third Quarter
Emily Engstler’s great game and season continued in the second half as her and Carla Leite poured in nine third quarter points each to stop the Indiana Fever from gaining any momentum coming out of halftime. This duo was practically unstoppable in the third quarter as the Fever were forced to either send a second defender at Leite, leaving players like Engstler wide open for three or a cut to the basket, or allow for Carla to continue to get to the basket and rack up fouls on Indiana’s star Caitlin Clark. This was most likely an adjustment by Fever head coach Stephanie White after the first quarter as she had to come up with a way to try and keep Caitlin Clark in the game and out of foul trouble.
Behind those strong second half starts from Carla and Emily, Sarah Ashlee Barker also added 5 of her 15 points in yet another all-around-game from the quickly rising second year guard out of Alabama. After Barker made two free throws, the Fire were able to push the lead out to 66-46, to which The Fire Pit filled the arena with a roar. With SAB averaging 10.2 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 51.3% from the field and 48.1% from three on the year, could she be a potential early sleeper candidate for the WNBA’s Sixth Player of the Year award and maybe even the WNBA All Star weekend 3P contest?
In the final minute of the quarter, we were reminded of the game plan that helped the Fire get out to the lead they had accumulated up until this point. Carla Leite drove to the basket on Caitlin Clark and hit an and-one layup through the contact, drawing Clark’s fifth foul of the game with an entire quarter left and building Portland’s lead to 80-59. That moment felt like the nail in the coffin for Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever for the night. After committing her fifth foul, Clark left the game and never returned as the game was clearly out of reach.
Fourth Quarter
The fourth quarter in Portland was nothing but a party in The Fire Pit. The Fire coasted their way to a 100-82 victory as the Indiana Fever had basically given up for the night with the lead being too daunting and Portland playing at their top of their game. Caitlin Clark played one of if not the worst game of her young WNBA career as the Indiana star ended with just 6 points and 4 assists on 1-7 field goal shooting and 0-2 from three while also getting picked apart on defense all night.
Alex Sarama and his staff had the perfect game plan, but the players all went out and executed it with perfection. With five Fire players scoring double figures last night, it was the most all around team win of the season.
At the end of each article, I highlight three players as the MVPs of the night. Tonight I wanted to make sure that with that, I emphasize the MVP of the night, Megan Gustafson. In her first start of the season, Gustafson played one of the best games of her eight year career, scoring 22 points on a perfect 8 for 8 field goal shooting while also playing solid defense on Aliyah Boston. Megan is now averaging career highs 10.4 points per game shooting 64.5% field goal and 39.1% from three on the season. In the post game press conference, Megan had a vulnerable moment as she had to pause and wipe away tears while she said:
“We’re a bunch of overlooked players, and I think we all have a chip on our shoulder. You know, I've really never been respected as a basketball player until I’ve gotten here, so I’m thankful for this team, this organization…they really believe in me.”
Alex Sarama and his coaching staff have clearly been getting the most out of their players, helping them feel confident, find their identity in the league, and instilling a family-like atmosphere throughout the franchise. The youngest head coach in the WNBA continues to build on his Coach of the Year resume and the Portland Fire are now an impressive 6-4 and 5th in the WNBA standings through the first 10 games of the season.
Do you believe yet?
Tonight’s MVPs:
Megan Gustafson, Carla Leite, and Emily Engstler.
Box Score:
Attendance Numbers:
Second sellout crowd of the season 19,347!
Attendance average at home games as of May 31st, 2026: 14,530
Next Game:
Portland Fire (6-4) at Golden State Valkyries (5-2), 7PM Tuesday June 2nd at Chase Center (Live TV: WNBA League Pass, Rose City SportsNet, or Fire +)
