The Portland Fire and Washington Mystics will be hard-pressed to repeat the drama that accompanied their previous meeting.
Thursday night’s rematch in Washington comes 18 days after the Mystics defeated the Fire in four overtimes. That 124-123 game — which featured 21 ties and 12 lead changes — matched the record for the longest in WNBA history.
Both teams have made adjustments since making history.
“We had some different players and different matchups and different lineups,” Mystics coach Sydney Johnson said. “We have a team and we’re pouring into everyone and when you do that consistently every day, we shouldn’t be surprised that they’re able to show up and perform like they (have).”
The Mystics (12-10) are aiming for a three-game winning streak as well as their fifth victory in six games.
Their successful stretch began with the memorable visit from the Fire (10-14), who have dropped five of their last seven games. Portland is 1-1 midway through a four-game road trip, which includes Tuesday’s 90-87 loss at Connecticut.
“I think it’s always a balance between you don’t want to overload your team with what came up from (Tuesday) versus what we’re going to see against the Mystics,” Fire coach Alex Sarama said.
Washington guard Sonia Citron poured in a game high-tying 32 points against the Fire in last month’s clash.
While Kiki Iriafen carried the Mystics offensively with 25 points when they won 79-62 on Tuesday night in Toronto, the overall defensive effort was the bigger story. Washington limited the Tempo to 35.4% shooting from the field while allowing just 10 free-throw attempts and five offensive rebounds.
“It’s certainly a point of emphasis from our coaching staff, try to make people work (to score against us),” Johnson said. “They have grown and learned and gotten better in terms of some defensive concepts.”
In their game Tuesday, the Fire were held to four points over the final 2:27 as they tried in vain to claim their first lead since the opening five minutes.
“Really pleased with the spirit we showed in that second half to come back and make it a game,” Sarama said. “It was really a completely different second half. … Another one that we’ll keep learning from.”
Sarama said the Fire have struggled against opponents with athletic post players.
Carla Leite, after scoroing a team-high 18 points Tuesday, remains Portland’s top scorer at 15.3 points per game. She also leads the Fire with 5.8 assists per game.
–Field Level Media
