Let’s be real: you’re not going to see the Seattle Storm or the Portland Fire in the WNBA playoffs this year. But that doesn’t make this team meaningless. With both squads building for the future, players on both teams will be going hard to prove they belong. That always makes for good competition.
The Storm enter as 1.5-point road favorites with -115 Moneyline odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Fire are -105 underdogs, with the game total set at 179.5 points.
Let’s dive into a preview, prediction, and pick for this Storm-Fire matchup.
Storm vs. Fire Prediction, Preview
So far, Portland has won both matchups this season. The first matchup was a high-scoring 94-89 affair, where Carla Leite’s point guard skills paced the Fire to the win. The emerging star put up 20 points and 10 assists on the night, while Bridget Carleton put up 24 points of her own. Despite getting strong offensive performances from Dominique Malonga, Awa Fam, and Natisha Hiedeman, the Storm just couldn’t keep pace.
The second game had startlingly similar results, but with lower scoring outputs all around, as Portland won 77-72. Once again, it was Leite leading the offensive charge with Carleton in a complementary role. Malonga, Hiedeman, and Fam produced offensively, but not enough for Seattle to get over the hump. Once again, failing to keep pace offensively led to a five-point loss for the league’s worst team this season.
But things have changed somewhat. Sarah Ashlee Barker, one of Portland’s most important offensive presences, will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing knee surgery. For a team that relies on shootouts to win, any step back offensively can be crippling. It places extra pressure on Leite, Carleton, and Megan DiLeo (neé Gustafson) to pick up the offensive slack. Lately, that hasn’t been a problem for Leite whatsoever.
To me, this matchup will come down to Seattle’s offense. So far, their young offense hasn’t been good enough to get over the hump against Portland, but the tools are there. Without much of an interior presence, Portland is awfully vulnerable against drives and post-ups, something Seattle can get to in the right context. How Seattle punishes Portland for their lack of size will decide the game.
Now that we know these teams a bit better, who is going to pull out the win, and how should we bet on this game?
Storm vs. Fire Pick, Best Bet
I have difficulty seeing the Fire overcome their injuries. Sarah Ashlee Barker has often been the offensive talent that tips the scales in Portland’s favor, and without her, the Storm defense has little to worry about. I expect their young defenders to buckle down enough to keep the Fire under wraps, while the offense does enough to get the win.
