The Portland Fire and New York Liberty meet Monday night in Brooklyn for the third time in 14 days, and it is the last time they will see each other this season. The game will air on Peacock and NBCSN.
Portland beat New York on May 12 for the first victory in franchise history, then followed that with two more tight wins this season, 98-96 over the Liberty and 83-82 over the Connecticut Sun. The Fire enter at 3-3 after a 99-80 win over the Toronto Tempo on Saturday, while the Liberty return home after a 91-76 loss to the Dallas Wings on Sunday.
For Portland, the results have come in two very different shapes. The Fire have won three games by a combined 48 points and lost three by at least 15 each, a split that has made them one of the fourth WNBA expansion franchises to reach.500 or better through their first six games. They also have been scoring at least 10 more points per game in their wins than in their losses, a gap that shows how much the offense can swing the night.
That imbalance was on display Wednesday in a 90-73 loss to the Indiana Fever, when Portland made just 3 of 16 shots from 3-point range and tied a season low with three offensive rebounds. Coach Alex Sarama said afterward that he was more concerned the team was not generating more offense, especially with the emphasis the club has placed on crashing the glass, and added that the last two games had shown improvement there before Friday’s total of three. The Fire answered that setback with their Saturday win over Toronto.
New York, meanwhile, is trying to steady itself during the third stop on a seven-game homestand, its longest of the season. The Liberty were preseason favorites to win the championship, but they are sitting at.500 and now have to regroup after another home loss, one that came with Sabrina Ionescu back on the floor for her season debut. Ionescu, who had missed the first five games with an injured left foot, scored 11 points and led the team with seven assists against Dallas. Satou Sabally also was back after missing the first four games and scored 20 points.
The matchup gives Portland another chance to prove its early season surge is not a brief run and gives New York a chance to avoid letting a promising homestand slip further. The same teams have already produced close games and a range of results this month, and Monday’s meeting will decide which one leaves Brooklyn with the cleaner season narrative.
