Lynx vs. Fire: Kayla McBride Scores 24, Enters WNBA Career Scoring Top 20 as Minnesota Wins Fifth Straight

Kayla McBride's biggest shot of Saturday night came with 5:14 left and Portland suddenly making things annoying. The three put the Minnesota Lynx up 86-76, stopped a Fire surge cold and carried a nice little bonus: it moved McBride past Becky Hammon and into the top 20 on the WNBA's career scoring list.

McBride finished with 24 points, the Lynx beat the Portland Fire 101-93 at Target Center, and the league's best record got a little better at 20-6. It's five straight wins now for Minnesota, and the only real complaint is that the final score looks closer than the game felt for about 35 minutes.

Never Behind, Occasionally Bothered

Portland never led. Not once. Olivia Miles hit a three for a 7-4 lead early, and Minnesota stayed in front the rest of the way, going up 24-16 after one quarter and 47-39 at the half. The Fire did make their bid midway through the third, when Bridget Carleton's three cut it to 53-50 with 6:11 left in the quarter. Minnesota replied with consecutive threes, the second from McBride, and Portland wouldn't get that close again.

The real separation came on a 10-0 run that straddled the third and fourth quarters, starting at 67-60 and ending at 77-60 with 9:46 to play. The lead reached 19 points, and at that stage the only suspense was about how many minutes the Lynx starters would get to sit.

That's when the Fire remembered they had a whole quarter left. Portland scored 33 in the fourth, including an 8-0 run in under a minute that made it 83-76 with 6:04 to go. They drained threes from everywhere. Sarah Ashlee Barker kept getting downhill. Emily Engstler hit two threes in the final 2:45. Billy Joel may insist that we didn't start the Fire, but Minnesota certainly had to spend the end of this one putting it out.

McBride's three answered that first flurry, and then Courtney Williams took care of the rest. She scored nine points in the final five minutes: a 24-foot three at 4:53, pull-ups at 2:26 and 1:55, and two free throws with 32.3 seconds left. Every time Portland got within six or seven, Minnesota had something ready, and usually it was Williams.

McBride Hits the Chart

McBride's night had real substance beyond the milestone. She shot 9 of 14 overall and 4 of 8 from three, topped 20 points for a sixth straight game and now sits at 5,846 career points, five clear of the 5,841 Hammon had at No. 20. That's the kind of chart debut that used to get you a mention from Casey Kasem. It's also a pretty good summary of a career built on being reliable for a long, long time.

Then there's Miles, the rookie, who keeps finding new ways to fill up a box score. She had 14 points and 10 assists, which is expected at this point, but she also blocked four shots, which is not. From a guard! Miles shot just 5 of 14 and still affected everything. Natasha Howard was nearly perfect, going 7 of 8 for 16 points with seven rebounds and three blocks, and Williams finished with 15 points and seven assists. Dorka Juhasz gave Minnesota 12 points and five assists off the bench.

Portland's three leading scorers were terrific. Carleton scored 22 and made six of her nine threes, adding eight rebounds, four assists and three steals with zero turnovers. Barker scored 21 on 9-of-14 shooting, and Carla Leite had 21 with seven assists. Engstler chipped in 12. The problem was everybody else. The Fire's bench managed nine points in total, and Minnesota's had 23.

The 10-0 Run Was the Game

You can make a case for McBride's three as the turning point, and it certainly felt like the moment that counted. But the math says the game was decided in that stretch around the end of the third. Portland outscored Minnesota 33-26 in the fourth and lost by eight. The Lynx had built enough of a cushion by the time the Fire found their shot, so even a late barrage just made the final look respectable.

There's a lesson in how Minnesota got there, too. The Lynx shot 55% from the field, had 29 assists on 41 made baskets and won the paint 54-46. They blocked nine shots to Portland's two. They also committed only nine fouls all night, sending Portland to the line just seven times, which is a remarkable bit of discipline in a game with this much scoring.

Stats That Matter

• 13 of 30: Portland from three, good for 43%. It kept the Fire alive and still wasn't enough.
• 9-2: Minnesota's edge in blocks, with Miles and Howard accounting for seven.
• 18-9: Fast-break points for the Lynx, who kept pushing even with a big lead.
• 9: Team fouls for Minnesota. Howard, Williams and Juhasz combined for zero.

What It Means

Minnesota is now 20-6, the league's best mark, and 10-4 at home after finishing a four-game homestand with four wins. The Lynx head to Seattle on Monday. Portland drops to 11-15 and 5-9 on the road, two days after that 75-56 win at Washington, and goes home to host Dallas on Wednesday.

Credit where it's due: the last time these teams met in this building, on June 15, the Lynx won 107-74. Saturday's eight-point game shows how far Portland has come, even if it won't feel like much comfort on the flight home.

The Takeaway

The best teams can give up 33 in a fourth quarter, have their lead cut to single digits and never truly look worried. Minnesota's four-game homestand ended with a win, a milestone and a rookie guard swatting shots like a center. McBride, now among the top 20 scorers in league history, didn't need a big speech for any of it. She just kept hitting shots, which is pretty much how she got on that list in the first place.

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