Carla Leite scored 18 points and made the first basket in the return of the WNBA to Portland, but the Chicago Sky pulled away late for a 98-83 win over the expansion Portland Fire on Saturday night at Moda Center.

Leite opened the scoring 1:02 into the game with a layup, and the Fire's fans celebrated the league's return to Portland for the first time in 24 years. The excitement held for much of the night even after Chicago built a 50-37 halftime lead and stretched the margin to 17 points early in the second half.

Portland refused to fold in its first game back in the league, cutting into the deficit and tying it at 70 on Bridget Carleton's 3-pointer with 8:39 left. But the Sky answered with a closing run built around Kamilla Cardoso and Skylar Diggins, who controlled the paint and the glass as Chicago finished with a decisive final stretch.

Cardoso had 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Diggins added 21 points and 11 rebounds as the Sky opened their season with a road win after making sweeping roster changes following a 10-24 finish last year. For Portland, the comeback bid showed why the Fire are already being watched closely as the second-youngest team in the WNBA, even in defeat.

The name was familiar in a different form. Portland previously had a WNBA team also called the Fire that played for three seasons from 2000 to 2002, and Saturday's opener brought that history back to a building that had waited 24 years for league basketball again. The Fire were also playing the first game of a season-opening four-game homestand, with New York coming to town Tuesday night.

Chicago heads to Golden State on Wednesday night, while Portland will try to turn the energy from its home debut into something sturdier than a loud opening-night crowd. Leite gave the city its first basket and its first real jolt, but the Sky had the size and the late execution to leave with the result.