Fire vs. Wings: Emily Engstler's Free Throw With 1.7 Seconds Left Lifts Portland 84-83 Over Dallas

Emily Engstler missed the first one. With 1.7 seconds on the clock, the score tied at 83 and 14,612 people at Moda Center holding their breath, that is about the worst possible way to begin a trip to the line. She made the second.

That was enough. Portland edged Dallas 84-83 on Saturday night, ending a four-game losing streak and collecting a first Commissioner's Cup win after going without one in four previous tries. Bridget Carleton scored 20, 18 of them on 3s, and Portland survived a final five minutes that changed its mind about the winner roughly every 30 seconds.

Fourteen Lead Changes and a Lot of Yelling

The first quarter barely separated these teams at 14-13 Portland. The Fire's one real burst came early in the second, a 10-0 run from 8:39 to 7:21 that turned an 18-16 deficit into a 26-18 lead. Portland led by as many as 10 and went to the break up 44-37, with 30 second-quarter points giving it the kind of cushion that usually holds.

It did not hold. Dallas won the third 24-19 to pull within 63-61, and the fourth began with the Wings hunting the lead. Arike Ogunbowale's free throw tied it at 71 and Jessica Shepard's two at the line put Dallas ahead. Megan DiLeo tied it at 73. Shepard's three-point play made it 76-73 with 3:25 left, Engstler answered with one of her own at 2:40, and then Dallas looked like it had finally broken free. Ogunbowale scored from 3 feet, Azzi Fudd added a running layup with 1:25 to go, and it was 80-76.

Here is where Portland's night got good. Carleton let one fly from 26 feet with 1:01 left and made it 80-79. DiLeo scored from close range at 22.5 to give the Fire an 81-80 lead. Fudd answered immediately with a layup and a free throw at 18.7, putting Dallas up 83-81 and setting up what looked like the winning sequence. Carla Leite then took the ball straight to the rim and tied it with 11.6 seconds left. Engstler ended up at the line with 1.7 seconds to go, and the rest was one miss, one make and a very loud building.

Carleton's Range, DiLeo's Everything

Carleton's stat line is one of the stranger good games you will see. She went 6-of-14 from the field, and all six makes were 3s, on 10 attempts from deep. Her only other points came on two free throws. On a night when Dallas was winning the glass, that shooting was Portland's counterpunch, and it had help: six different Fire players hit from deep, including Luisa Geiselsoder, who went 2-of-3 and scored seven in 14 minutes.

DiLeo might have been the most important player on the floor late. She finished with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and no turnovers, and in the final 3:36 she scored two baskets and assisted on two more, including Carleton's big 3. Engstler had 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks to go with the winner and finished plus-8, the best mark on the team. Leite had 10 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and Sarah Ashlee Barker scored 10 with five boards.

The Wings have legitimate complaints about the result and few about the effort. Ogunbowale led them with 22, going 6-of-8 at the line. Fudd had 18 with two steals and two blocks, playing through five fouls. Aziaha James scored 17 but needed 18 shots and went 1-of-7 from 3. Shepard was terrific with 13 points and 14 rebounds, four of them offensive. Dallas used just eight players, and four of them played at least 32 minutes. Awak Kuier's two late assists set up Shepard's three-point play and Ogunbowale's go-ahead basket.

The 26-Footer That Changed Everything

The biggest shot of the night was not the last one. Down 80-76 with a minute to play, Portland had given up two straight baskets and was staring at a fifth straight loss. Carleton's 3 changed the entire math of the final minute. It cut the lead to one, turned a closing-time game back into a live one, and gave the Fire the runway for DiLeo's layup and Leite's drive.

It also reflected the actual difference in this game. Dallas beat Portland on the glass, at the free-throw line and off turnovers. Portland beat Dallas from behind the arc by a margin wide enough to swallow all of it.

Stats That Matter

• 14-of-31 vs. 7-of-28: Portland's 3-point shooting against Dallas', which works out to 45 percent against 25.
• 26-18: The Fire's edge in assists, a sign of how they generated those looks.
• 41-32: Dallas' rebounding advantage, including 12-5 on the offensive glass.
• 18-9: Dallas' edge in points off turnovers. Portland won anyway.
• 14: Lead changes, and Portland still led for 71 percent of the game.

What It Means

Portland improved to 7-8 and 5-5 at home. That record has been built in bursts, and the win halted a skid that had included losses to Golden State, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The Fire visit Minnesota on Monday.

Dallas slipped to 8-5 and 4-3 on the road, two nights after an 85-70 win over Phoenix. Dallas sits at 3-2 in the Commissioner's Cup, with two more Cup dates ahead of a June 30 title game that pairs the top team from each conference. The next one is Monday at home against Las Vegas, and it will not be any easier.

Portland's unofficial motto is Keep Portland Weird, and Saturday qualified. The Fire got outrebounded, lost the turnover battle, let a four-point deficit form with a minute left, and won because their closer missed a free throw first and made the next one. Bumper sticker material, all of it.

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