Fire vs. Fever: Megan DiLeo Goes 8-for-8 as Portland Drops 100 and Holds Caitlin Clark to 6 Points

Less than a day earlier, the Portland Fire had coughed up the ball 28 times and lost by 20 on their own floor. On Saturday night they had a sold-out Moda Center, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever in the building and one very obvious homework assignment. Consider it turned in.

Portland beat Indiana 100-84 in front of 19,347, and the headline act was not Clark. Megan DiLeo scored 22 points without missing a shot from the field, Carla Leite had 18 points and 12 assists, Emily Engstler had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Clark finished with six points on 1-of-7 shooting.

From 8-2 Down to a Full-On Party

Indiana actually started on top, running out to an 8-2 lead in the first two minutes. It did not last. Portland scored eight straight to go in front, then 11 straight after a 10-10 tie, and from that early hole the Fire outscored the Fever 27-7 the rest of the quarter. DiLeo already had eight points when her layup helped make it 29-15 after one.

The second quarter was a holding pattern with a soundtrack. Sarah Ashlee Barker's three pushed the lead to 44-26 with four minutes left before the break, and the Fever could only trim that to 50-37 at halftime.

Then came the third quarter, and 37 points later this was a party. Portland got its lead to 25 in the period, Clark picked up her fourth foul, and Barker's closing three made it 87-62 and brought the whole building up. Think about that score for a second. An expansion team had 87 points with 10 minutes still to play.

The fourth was all denouement. Coach Alex Sarama pulled most of his starters with the Fire up 98-79, Frieda Buhner's layup at 1:24 brought up triple digits, and the Fever won the quarter 22-13 with nothing at stake but pride. Grace VanSlooten's short jumper with 9.7 seconds left gave her the first points of her Fever career and closed the scoring.

Perfect DiLeo, Plus Two Portland Firsts

DiLeo's line looks like a typo: 8-of-8 from the field, 1-of-1 from three, 5-of-6 at the line, 22 points in 28 minutes. Portland piled up 52 points in the paint, and Indiana never found anyone who could make her miss. The Fever's interior defense spent the night looking for a pause button that does not exist.

Leite ran the show with 12 assists, went 6-of-6 at the line and finished a game-best plus-20. Engstler, who had six turnovers on Friday, had one on Saturday to go with her 16 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks. The AP reports those were the first double-doubles for the expansion Fire, and a check of their first nine box scores bears that out. Bridget Carleton, back in the lineup after missing Friday with a back issue, added 14 points and three steals, while Barker scored 15 off the bench.

Clark never settled in. She shot 0-of-2 from three, picked up five fouls and played just 22 minutes. Her six points were by far her lowest total of the season, 10 below her previous low of 16, though she still handed out six assists. Aliyah Boston led Indiana with 18 points and seven rebounds, Kelsey Mitchell scored 17 and Sophie Cunningham added 15. The Fever did collect a little franchise history along the way: Boston passed Erlana Larkins for second in team history in defensive rebounds, and Mitchell moved into sole possession of second in assists.

The Turning Point: The Turnovers Went Home

The real difference from Friday was ball security. Portland's 28 turnovers against Atlanta became 12 against Indiana, and all those recovered possessions turned into offense. The Fire took 70 shots, made 36 of them and assisted on 26. They shot 51 percent while the Fever were at 41.

Indiana, meanwhile, lived at the line and needed every trip. Going 31-of-35 on free throws kept the score respectable, but 5-of-22 from three gave the Fever no way to climb out once that third quarter got rolling. You can survive an off night from your best player if something else is working. On Saturday, the only other thing working was the foul line.

Stats That Matter

• 37: Portland's points in the third quarter, the difference between a comfortable lead and a blowout.
• 52-34: The Fire's advantage in the paint.
• 12 vs. 28: Portland's turnovers on Saturday compared to Friday.
• 5-of-22: Indiana from three, with Clark and Lexie Hull combining to go 0-of-6.
• 26: Portland's largest lead, against a team that led by six early and never again.

What It Means

Portland improves to 6-4 and 4-3 at home, with four wins in its last five games: at Toronto, at New York, home against Connecticut and now this, with only the Atlanta loss in between. The Fire visit Golden State on Tuesday. The season series with Indiana stands at 1-1 after the Fever's 90-73 win in Indianapolis earlier this month, a game Clark missed with a back injury. According to the Fever, this was their first trip to Portland since 2002, when an earlier version of the Fire was in the league.

Indiana falls to 4-4 and 1-2 on the road, its second straight loss after a 90-88 defeat at Golden State on Thursday. The Fever return home to host Atlanta on Thursday, which opens their Commissioner's Cup schedule. They would very much like Clark out of foul trouble for that one.

Not a Sitcom Anymore

Expansion teams are supposed to be the lovable underdogs of the sports sitcom, the Ted Lasso squad everybody roots for because nobody expects anything. Six wins in 10 games, a sellout, 100 points against one of the league's marquee teams and a flawless shooting night from a starter make that framing look dated. Portland's next assignment is harder in a whole new way. Now people are going to expect something.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press and the Indiana Fever.