Forty percent of the Chicago Sky’s wins this year have come at the expense of the Portland Fire.
Chicago will try to make it 50 percent on Friday night when it shoots to sweep a two-game home set with Portland and sweep the season series.
The Sky (5-12) routed the Fire 101-78 on Wednesday night, putting seven players in double figures and shooting 52.2% from the field. Skylar Diggins led the way with 15 points and six of the team’s 27 assists.
“Just a testament to this team, to our connectivity that stretches far beyond this court,” said Natasha Cloud, who scored nine points off the bench. “It may not always show up in the win-loss column, but we are here. It’s just nice to finally finish one out in our favor.”
Chicago, which won the season opener in Portland 98-83, will look to marry its efficiency from Wednesday night with the kind of rebounding it hasn’t always displayed. The Sky, who yield the highest average rebounds to opponents (39.4), earned a 38-29 advantage on the glass against the Fire, last in the league in rebound average (28.4).
“Things just felt like they were clicking on both ends,” Chicago second-year coach Tyler Marsh said.
As for Portland (8-10), nothing really clicked on either end. While the Fire made 10 of 25 3-pointers, they also allowed a whopping 56 points in the paint and connected on just 26 of 69 shots (37.7%) from the field.
Defense has been a consistent issue for the expansion Fire. They are last in the WNBA in defensive efficiency and allow more fastbreak points than any team. Their inability to rebound enables opponents to average more than 16 second-chance points per game.
Portland has gotten solid play out of Carla Leite, who averages team highs of 13.9 points and 5.6 assists. Bridget Carleton is scoring 13.4 ppg but had just seven on Wednesday night. Megan Gustafson contributes 11.5 ppg, tallying a game-high 17 on Wednesday night.
This is the second game of a rough stretch for the Fire, who will play just one home game before July 22.
–Field Level Media
