WNBA 4th quarter
Fire logo

Fire

- : -
Storm logo

Storm

🔥 💤

Preview

SEATTLE (Interstat) — The Portland Fire visit the Seattle Storm on Friday night at Key Arena, looking to complete a season sweep of the WNBA series. Portland (13-20) has beaten Seattle in all three meetings this year. The Fire won the most recent matchup 100-93 at home on Aug. 8, and they also took games at Seattle on July 4 (77-72) and at home on June 17 (94-89). All three were decided by seven points or fewer. Portland enters on a two-game losing streak after falling to Minnesota 85-81 on Aug. 12. Guard Teja Oblak was one of the Fire’s top performers in that game, playing 22 minutes and finishing with 11 points, six rebounds and nine assists. She also scored 12 points in 13 minutes against Los Angeles on Aug. 2. Oblak has been an important playmaker in a Portland backcourt that has kept the Fire competitive in a series of narrow recent losses. Seattle (7-28) is coming off a 97-88 win over Chicago on Aug. 10. Center Dominique Malonga had 26 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in that game. Malonga has been productive all month: She had 21 points and nine rebounds in the Aug. 8 loss at Portland, 31 points and 10 rebounds at New York on Aug. 5, and 17 points and six rebounds against New York on Aug. 3. Her inside play could pose a challenge for Portland, which has had trouble containing her in the teams’ previous meetings. The Storm have had a difficult season but showed resilience in beating Chicago. Seattle is also getting a favorable projection from Interstat’s ELO system, which gives the Storm a 54.9 percent probability of winning. Interstat’s game simulator, however, projects Portland to win 96-94. Seattle is listed as a 2.5-point favorite, with an over/under of 181.5 points. The game marks the fourth meeting between the teams. Portland’s balanced attack has controlled the season series, but Seattle has the momentum of a win and a home crowd at Key Arena.

Fandwagon App