Fire vs. Storm: Holly Winterburn's Career-High 20 Holds Off Seattle as Portland Finishes a Four-Game Sweep

Holly Winterburn walked into Climate Pledge Arena on Friday night with 49 career WNBA points. About 21 minutes off the bench later she had 20 more, the best scoring night of her career, and the Portland Fire owned a lead so comfortable that they spent the last five minutes trying to give it back.

They failed, barely. Natisha Hiedeman's final three-point try at the horn slammed off the backboard, Portland escaped with an 84-82 win, and the Fire completed a four-game season sweep of the Seattle Storm. Seattle never led for a single second, and it came within one possession of making that the least important stat of the night.

96 Percent of a Great Night

Portland led for 96 percent of this game by ESPN's count, and for most of it the Fire looked like the only team that had read the script. An 8-0 run late in the first turned 16-13 into 24-13, and the quarter ended 26-16. It was 48-36 at the half, with a 9-0 Portland run that began late in the second and spilled into the third making it 50-36.

Seattle's first real punch came right after that, a 10-0 run between 8:27 and 5:47 of the third that cut the gap to 50-46. Portland steadied, led 62-54 after three and pushed its margin as high as 16. Karlie Samuelson's three with 5:20 left, the Fire's 12th and last of the night, made it 79-66. That should have been the end of the story.

Instead the Fire forgot how field goals work for more than three minutes. Awa Fam hit from 24 feet, Jade Melbourne got to the rim, Ezi Magbegor stepped out for a 25-footer off a Hiedeman pass, and just like that it was 80-75. Emily Engstler's layup at 2:07 stopped the bleeding for a moment. Seattle kept coming anyway: two Fam free throws, then a Magbegor bucket inside with 38.1 seconds left for 82-79.

The finish was pure anxiety. Carla Leite, an 89 percent foul shooter according to the AP, went 2 of 4 in the last 15 seconds. Hiedeman drilled a 25-footer with 6.6 seconds left to make it 83-82, Leite split a pair at 5.1, and Seattle got one look to steal the whole night. It found nothing but glass.

The 49-Point Career Gets a Serious Update

Winterburn scored 18 of her 20 in the first half, which is the only reason Portland had a lead to nearly blow. She shot 8 of 14 and added seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, a line that looks like it belongs to somebody with a much longer resume. The AP noted she missed last season because of injury, which makes the night a little sweeter. The telling number is plus-23. Portland won by two, so the Fire lost the minutes she sat by 21. In a one-possession game, that's the difference between a sweep and a very quiet drive down I-5.

Bridget Carleton gave Portland 14 points and nine rebounds with four threes. Megan DiLeo also had 14 with nine boards, five of them offensive. Leite's 14 points and six assists came with five turnovers, which feels about right for the evening she had.

Seattle's most encouraging news was Fam, a rookie who came off the bench for 20 points and nine rebounds on 7 of 12 shooting. The most discouraging was Dominique Malonga, the team's leading scorer at 17.4 points per game per the AP, who managed nine points on 3 of 15 shooting. She did grab 12 rebounds and dish five assists, including the feeds on Seattle's last two baskets, but a team that loses by two can do that math on its own. Magbegor added 13 with eight boards, Jordan Horston had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Melbourne scored 12.

The Layup Nobody Will Remember

Engstler's 3-footer from Leite at 2:07 was Portland's only field goal after Samuelson's three. Seattle outscored the Fire 16-5 over that stretch, so those two points carried absurd weight. Take them away and Hiedeman's shot with 6.6 seconds left is a go-ahead three in front of 12,596 people instead of a footnote. Engstler went just 4 of 12 on the night. She picked the right one.

Stats That Tell on Both Teams

• 28-12: Points off turnovers, Seattle's edge. Portland's 15 giveaways kept feeding the Storm all night.
• 38-24: Portland's advantage in the paint, which is how it survived shooting 12 of 37 from three.
• 27 of 81: Seattle's shooting, 33 percent, even with 14 offensive rebounds creating extra chances.
• 5, 5, 7, 2: The margins of Portland's four wins over Seattle this season, in order. Close every time, same result every time.

A Sweep for One, a Skid Revisited for the Other

Portland moved to 14-20, 6-10 on the road, and has won three of its last four. It also finishes 4-0 against Seattle, so whatever else this season becomes, the Fire can say they beat the neighbors every single time they saw them. Next up is a trip to Phoenix on Sunday.

Seattle dropped to 7-29 and 5-12 at home. The Storm's 97-88 win over Chicago on Monday had snapped an 11-game losing streak, and they couldn't get a second one going. They host the Sky again on Sunday, which at least offers a chance at repeat business.

Blue Shells on the Last Lap

Anyone who has played Mario Kart knows this finish. You lead the whole race, you can see the line, and then every item in the game starts raining down on you in the final turn. Portland took all of it: the missed shots, the split free throws, the rookie from 24 feet, the 25-footer with 6.6 seconds left. The Fire still crossed first, thanks largely to a player who began the night with 49 career points. Seattle got close enough to smell it and never once saw the front of the pack. Four meetings in, close is all the Storm have to show for it.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Context as reported by the Associated Press.