Fire vs. Storm: Carla Leite Goes 12-for-12 at the Line as Portland Beats Seattle 77-72

Nobody has ever sold a poster of a free throw, which is rough news for Carla Leite. On the Fourth of July at Climate Pledge Arena, with jump shots in short supply for everybody, she stepped to the line 12 times and made all 12.

Leite finished with 20 points on just eight field-goal attempts, and the Portland Fire ground out a 77-72 win over the Seattle Storm on Saturday night despite shooting 4-of-25 from 3. Portland had dropped three straight coming in. Seattle, meanwhile, fell to 0-12 against Western Conference opponents this season, a number that should come with its own moment of silence.

Down 12, Then a Whole Different Game

For a while this looked like a Storm night. Portland led 8-7 when Seattle rattled off 13 straight over the next five minutes, with Natisha Hiedeman collecting nine of her 15 points in the first quarter, and it was 20-8 before the Fire finally scored again. That late bucket made it 20-10 after one, and it also kicked off something bigger: a 10-0 Portland run that spilled into the second quarter and made it 20-18 with 7:52 left in the half.

The Fire won that period 22-10. Emily Engstler did all of her scoring in the first half, piling up nine points and six of her eight rebounds before the break, and Portland went to the locker room up 32-30.

Seattle's last stand came in the final three minutes, mostly on the back of Dominique Malonga. Hiedeman's 25-foot pullup cut it to 66-61 with 3:17 left, and Malonga's free throws made it 66-63. Bridget Carleton answered with a drive, and Megan DiLeo finished a Leite feed for a three-point play that made it 71-63 with 1:04 to go. Malonga would not go away, hitting 3s from 26 and 24 feet and adding a layup with 3.5 seconds left. Every time, Portland had an answer waiting at the foul line: four from Leite in the last 43 seconds, then two more from Carleton with 6.7 remaining.

The Foul Line Was the Star of the Show

Leite's box score line is a strange and beautiful thing: 4-of-8 from the field, no 3-point attempts at all, 12-of-12 at the stripe, four assists. She did it in 22 minutes while carrying five fouls. There were warts, including four turnovers, but when a team shoots 16 percent from deep it needs somebody who can manufacture points without a jumper, and she ran that factory all night.

Carleton shot just 4-of-14 and still got to 14 points and seven rebounds, largely by going 5-of-6 at the line. DiLeo was the quiet difference with 10 points and nine boards on 4-of-7 shooting. Engstler's eight rebounds helped, even with five turnovers attached. Sarah Ashlee Barker's four points undersell her night, since she also had six rebounds, three assists and two blocks, and Buhner added seven boards in 18 minutes off the bench. That's the recipe for a team shooting this badly: clean up every miss you can, end possessions, and live at the line.

Malonga scored 22 for Seattle in only 19 minutes, 11 of them in the final 2:39, two nights after a 5-point game in Phoenix. Hiedeman added four assists and four steals to her 15 points, and rookie Awa Fam had 12 points and four steals, though she needed 15 shots to get there. The other rookie in the lineup, Flau'jae Johnson, managed one point, her lowest of the season, on 0-of-5 shooting from the field, though she did grab eight rebounds. Ezi Magbegor, in her second game of the season, chipped in seven boards and two blocks in 14 minutes, which at least gives Seattle something to build around besides Malonga.

Where the Night Flipped

The third quarter decided this. Out of the break, Leite twice turned contact into three-point plays, and Frieda Buhner, fresh off the bench, piled up nine points in a six-minute burst that accounted for everything she would score all night. The shot that put Portland ahead for good came from DiLeo, a 3 that made it 41-38. Seattle never got back in front.

By the end of the period the Fire were up 54-47. Think about the math on that: Portland lost the first quarter by 10, then outscored Seattle 44-27 across the middle 20 minutes. The Storm's late scramble made the final score look tidy, but this game was taken from them well before Malonga started launching from 26 feet.

Stats That Matter

• 23-of-25: Portland at the line, against 16-of-18 for Seattle. That's seven extra points in a five-point game.
• 47-31: Portland's rebounding edge, with 37 of those on the defensive glass. Seattle shot 34 percent and got just six offensive boards to clean up the misses.
• 4-of-25: Portland from 3, or 16 percent. Seattle hit 8-of-29 and still lost.
• 14 steals: Seattle's total on a night Portland gave it away 20 times. The Storm scored 21 points off those turnovers, while Portland scored 19 off Seattle's 14.
• 11: Lead changes, none of them after DiLeo's 3.

What It Means

Portland is 9-12 overall and 3-7 on the road. This win stopped a three-game slide and salvaged a 1-3 finish on a four-game trip that had started with two losses in Chicago and a 124-123 heartbreaker in Washington. It's also the Fire's second win over Seattle this season, after a 94-89 decision on June 17. Las Vegas visits Portland on Thursday.

Seattle is 5-17 and 4-8 at home. Home wins over New York and Atlanta late last month had offered a flicker of life, but this was a second straight loss. The Storm head to the Los Angeles Sparks on Monday.

Fireworks Not Included

In a league in love with the deep ball, Portland won by shooting 16 percent from distance and treating the foul line like a savings account. It was no summer blockbuster. It was the indie movie that quietly clears its budget. No explosions on the Fourth, but the Fire still got paid.

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