The 6 Points That Show Caitlin Clark's Career-Worst Slump, And What It Means For The WNBA (And Our Own Storm Struggle)

Alright, let's just get this out of the way first. I'm fired up, and not in a good way, because while everyone's talking about Caitlin Clark, our Seattle Storm just dropped one to the Toronto Tempo, 93-72. That stings, seriously. We need to be better. But man, can we talk about what went down in Portland? Caitlin Clark, the player everyone's buzzing about, just had a night she's probably gonna wanna forget, and the expansion Portland Fire absolutely cooked the Indiana Fever, winning 100-84. It was brutal to watch, especially for Clark.

Clark's Struggles Hit a New Low in Portland

Look, I've watched a lot of basketball, and what happened to Caitlin Clark on Saturday night was... something else. The Fire held her to just six points. Six! She played only 22 minutes, went 1-for-7 from the field, and ended up with five fouls, grabbing her fourth in the third quarter. According to ESPN Research, this marks her seventh single-digit scoring night in her career, and the first time since June 24, 2025, when she also had six points in a win against, ironically, our own Seattle Storm. This ain't just a one-off either. She's been in a deep slump, shooting a combined 4-of-19 from the field (a dismal 21%) over her last two games. That's the worst field goal percentage of her career in a two-game span. The Fever even lost to the Golden State Valkyries, 90-88, on Thursday. Clark herself admitted the foul trouble was rough, saying, "It's hard when you foul, and you know, I just need to do a better job being straight up, keep the defender in front of me ... just move my feet a little bit better and yeah, definitely some tough ones. But it's just basketball, just a game, you know? Learn from it, watch the film and come back next game and be ready to go." Gotta respect the outlook, but man, she's gotta figure it out.

Portland's Fire Ignites Without Clark

Meanwhile, the Portland Fire are proving they're for real, snagging their fourth win in five games. They completely dominated this one. Megan Gustafson dropped 22 points to lead them, Carla Leite went off for 18 points and 12 assists, and Emily Engstler had 16 points and 10 rebounds, marking the first double-doubles for Portland this season. The Fire came out swinging, jumping to a 29-15 lead after the first quarter thanks to an early layup from Gustafson, who had eight points in that quarter alone. They stretched it to 44-26 with a Sarah Ashlee Barker three-pointer before halftime, eventually leading 50-37 at the break. By the third quarter, they pushed the lead to a whopping 25 points, with Barker capping the period with another huge three that had the Moda Center crowd, all 19,347 of them, on their feet. Coach Alex Sarama was even able to sit most of his starters with the Fire up 98-79 in the fourth. It's wild to think the Fever actually beat Portland 90-73 back on May 21 without Clark, who missed that game due to a back issue that got the WNBA to warn the Fever for not reporting it sooner. So, while Clark tries to shake off what's clearly a career-worst shooting streak, the Fire are showing the league they're no joke. And as for our Storm, well, a 93-72 loss to Toronto just ain't cutting it. We need to regroup fast and bring that Emerald City grit to our next game. This early season is all about setting the tone, and we gotta get back to winning. Let's go, Storm!

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.