The Portland Fire entered the 2026 WNBA season with zero expectations.
They were last in every preseason power ranking, experts viewed them as a bigger project than fellow expansion team Toronto Tempo, and fans had eyes for 2027’s projected No. 1 draft pick, Juju Watkins, before even thinking about the team’s first game, let alone their first win.
With fans hyped for the Fire’s return, “happy to be here” was the theme to tip off the year.
Well … so much for that.
On Monday, the Fire took down the New York Liberty, 81-74, in a prime-time, nationally televised game. It was their second takedown of the consensus second-best team in the preseason rankings, and it opened eyes across the league.
As ESPN’s Alexa Philippou posted on X: “Something not on my bingo card in the preseason: The Portland Fire have won the season series over the New York Liberty 2-1.”
Cheryl Miller said on the NBC broadcast: “When I saw this roster in preseason, I’m like, ‘What in the heck are these kids gonna do? What’s going to be their identity?’ … To see [head coach Alex Samara’s]vision in these last seven games, and this mindset of this Fire team, whether they’re 20 up, 20 down, they don’t play the score. They just continue to grind it out.”
A national audience saw the Fire grind it out on Monday, but Fire fans have been witnessing it all season. Three of the team’s four wins have been decided in the final minute, and while they may not have earned a “comeback kids” nickname yet, they’ve displayed tenacity and resiliency in their comebacks that are found in squads that have no quit in them. Ever.
Against the Liberty, who were without Sabrina Ionescu but got 25 points out of Breanna Stewart, Portland came back from down 10 points. Sarah Ashlee Barker scored all seven of her points during a fourth-quarter run that saw Portland take a 72-65 lead and never look back. And second-year guard Carla Leite continued her strong, clutch play with a three-point dagger with 13.7 seconds left, finishing with 18 points in total.
After the game, Leite put it simply on the broadcast: “Prove to the people they are wrong.”
None of this, of course, is to suggest the Fire are elite contenders. There’s too much season ahead, and an element of “beginner’s luck” could run out as they face the challenges, not just as a new franchise, but as a group of teammates navigating waters together for the first time. Opponents will also start scouting Portland differently, as more film and a bigger sample size come with each passing contest.
Momentum, though, is on the Fire’s side. They’re winning, they’re having as much fun as any team across the league, and, just as importantly for an expansion team, people are noticing.
That’s what happens when Leite and Barker’s clutch genes are kicking in. That’s what happens when Bridget Carleton is a top-20 scorer in the league, and when the team is sitting in the top half of the league standings.
Simply put: That’s what happens when you’re not just happy to be here.
The Fire are competing. And they’re making a name for themselves both in Portland and across the WNBA.
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