ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Nykesha Sales kept Orlando competitive with
her offense and helped clinch a victory with her defense.
Sales scored 21 points, 16 in the opening minutes, and had a
crucial steal in the final seconds as the Miracle beat the Portland
Fire 65-63 Wednesday night.
"Collectively, we did a great job," said Sales, who tied her
season high in scoring. "It wasn't just me; it was all of us."
Shannon Johnson added 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists
for the Miracle (10-16), who closed within two games of idle
Charlotte in the race for the final Eastern Conference playoff
berth.
"(Johnson) hit the glass for us, especially on the defensive
end," Orlando coach Carolyn Peck said. "We don't normally ask her
to hit the boards, but to play transition defense instead."
Jackie Stiles scored 13 points for Portland (11-15). In the
battle for the fourth playoff spot in the West, the Fire fell 3½
games behind Utah. The Starzz defeated Houston 71-63 Wednesday
night.
The Miracle held a 64-57 lead with four minutes remaining after
Johnson hit a 3-pointer. Portland closed within a point when Stiles
hit 14-foot jumper over Elaine Powell and Johnson with 45.4 seconds
to go.
With 12.5 seconds left, Orlando's Taj McWilliams-Franklin
blocked Sophia Witherspoon's shot out of bounds. On the Fire's
inbounds play, Sales tipped the pass into Johnson's hands for the
last of her four steals.
"Going down to the end, our defense was extremely important,"
Peck said.
Portland was forced to foul twice, finally sending Powell to the
free-throw line with 8.6 seconds remaining. Powell hit one, and
followed that by poking the ball away from Stiles as she drove for
a potential game-tying basket.
"I got bumped, but at a time like that -- especially when you
aren't at your home court -- you have to expect it and maybe I
should've pulled up," Stiles said.
In the first half, the Fire made eight of their first 11 shots.
But Sales countered by shooting 7-for-8 at the start.
A 3-pointer by Sales 12:04 before halftime gave Orlando a 21-20
lead. That was the Miracle's largest lead until they went ahead
46-43 with 13:35 left.
The Fire toughened their defense, and Sales didn't score again
until 3:13 had elapsed in the second half.
"Stacy Thomas is our best perimeter defender, so when Nykesha
was getting the open looks, we put Stacy on her and she totally
shut her down during the time she was in there," Portland coach
Lynda Hargrove said.
But Peck noted that Sales missed only two shots in that time,
one was a 30-foot heave at then end of the first half.
"She didn't try any force bad things, even with the bigger
players on her," Peck said. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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ALSO SEE
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