Hello, hoopheads! The Commissioner’s Cup final is set and for the first time in its six-year history, it’s headed to Brooklyn. Before anyone tries to tell me that the Liberty hosted the final just two years ago, please let me remind you that the game had to be played at Long Island’s UBS Arena due to a scheduling conflict at Barclays Center. Let me also add that the Liberty only got their asses whipped by the Minnesota Lynx because the vibes sucked in that place and nothing anyone can say will convince me otherwise. Barclays Center certainly appears to be available on June 30, when the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces are now due to renew what’s become one of the more entertaining rivalries in the WNBA at the moment, if only because this will be the fourth time the Aces and Liberty have played in what I’d call a high-stakes scenario over the last four seasons. The Liberty won two of the first three such encounters, claiming the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup in Sin City and winning in the 2024 semifinals en route to their lone WNBA title, but the Aces took the one that mattered most in the 2023 WNBA Finals. I wouldn’t call it a particularly bitter rivalry, given that the Aces are coached by one of the best players in Liberty history and there’s a healthy amount of respect among the many stars, but it’s been a fun one. Both teams now share the distinction of being the first three-time Commissioner’s Cup finalists, the winner will be the only two-time champion, and this will be the first rematch of a final in the Cup’s history.
Neither the Liberty nor Aces put forth a dominant effort last night, but both came out on top, with Las Vegas needing its win to clinch its spot against New York, which needed both its win and Las Vegas’ to earn the right to host. The Liberty’s league-best eighth straight win — tied for the season’s longest streak so far — started out miserably, as they trailed the Chicago Sky by a 26-11 margin in the first quarter. New York cut 10 points off of that deficit in a 16-6 run to end the frame, however, and the game was played within a pretty tight margin the rest of the way. The Libs eventually prevailed by a 96-95 final score thanks to Sabrina Ionescu’s game-winning layup with 10 seconds to play, although only after surviving a tough but not implausible look from Chicago rookie Sydney Taylor in her first start. Taylor’s absurd shot-making ability during a 24-point night on 10-for-16 from the field was largely the reason the Sky didn’t let the Liberty pull away down the stretch, and if I’m being honest, she probably deserved to hit her attempt at the game-winning fadeaway. Play her as many minutes as possible, Tyler Marsh!
Ionescu finished with 10 points and looked rusty for most of her third game of the season, but there’s no one I’d rather have taking the potential game-winning shot and she seemed to come alive down the stretch, having hit a huge 3-pointer a couple of minutes earlier. Jonquel Jones led the Liberty with 19 points while Breanna Stewart and Satou Sabally each had 17, with that trio hitting 21-of-32 (65.6%) from the field. Jones added 8 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block (although she had 4 turnovers), Stewart had 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block without a turnover and Sabally scored her 17 points in just 19:02 of action off the bench. Sabally’s insertion into the game and 9 points in the first quarter also played a huge part in pulling the Liberty out of their early doldrums. It was a perfect example of why I wanted her to come off the bench from the jump, not because she isn’t good enough to start, but because I’d love for the Liberty to replace a star with a star as often as possible when making a substitution. As one of my Bluesky followers put it after the game, I don’t envy Chris DeMarco having to allocate this roster’s minutes (he didn’t even have Betnijah Laney-Hamilton tonight). I do think I trust the Liberty’s first-year coach to get it right, though, as he seems to have a good understanding of what the moment calls for when the team starts to slip. It doesn’t hurt having an embarrassment of riches!
Las Vegas didn’t fall behind by as many points in its win at Phoenix, nor did it feature as dramatic an ending, but the reigning WNBA champs were down throughout the first half and by four points at halftime. The Aces nonetheless bounced back from being walloped by the Dallas Wings on Monday and earned a measure of revenge for a season-opening walloping at the hands of the Mercury in the process, holding Phoenix to fewer points in the second half (27) than they scored in the first quarter (28). In one of the more shocking developments of the early season, A’ja Wilson led the way with 33 points on 11-for-20 from the field and 11-for-13 at the line, adding 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks. She was joined in the 20-point club by Jackie Young (20 points and 9 assists) and NaLyssa Smith (21 points and 5 rebounds), and it was a good thing the two of them were also on their games, because the rest of the team scored 12 points on an unsightly 5-for-43 (11.6%) from the field.
With 12 of the league’s 15 teams having played last night, there’s just one game on tonight’s schedule. Thankfully, it’s a pretty damn good one, as the Atlanta Dream (9-4) visit the Indiana Fever (9-5) (7:30 ET, Prime Video/local affiliates) with one of the teams set to become the league’s fifth to reach 10 wins this season. This also happens to be the inverse of my favorite matchup in the WNBA — the exquisite Fever-Dream — although I do also love the way that Dream-Fever invokes the song “Dream Weaver” and the immortal work of 90’s art that is Wayne’s World. The Fever are looking to beat the Dream for the second time this season, having emerged victorious in the first Dream-Fever scenario by an 83-71 margin two weeks ago tonight as part of Commissioner’s Cup play. Kelsey Mitchell scored 25 a game-high 25 points on 11-for-15 from the field and Aliyah Boston added 19 points on 6-for-12 from the field on a night when the Dream hit just 34.3% of their shots and the rest of the Fever made 36.1% (Caitlin Clark had 17 points on 6-for-17, 35.3%).
Indiana comes in having won four straight since its lone Commissioner’s Cup loss at New York, most recently pulling away from the Toronto Tempo in the second half of a 22-point win rout on Tuesday. Clark struggled from the field again in that game like she did in the first meeting with Atlanta, going 5-for-15 including 1-for-8 from deep, but she still finished with 21 points and a season-high 14 assists to go with 6 turnovers on Tuesday. That win brought the Fever to 4-4 when Clark makes under 33.3% or worse of her 3-point attempts compared to 4-1 when she does better, when she’s hit at least 40% in all five games. It was also the sixth time Clark’s hit 33.3% or worse from deep in her last six games. Indiana’s still sitting 9th in offensive rating, putting up 104.5 points per 100 possessions according to Her Hoop Stats, but that’s inched up to the back of a tight pack in the middle of the rankings. Meanwhile, the Fever’s defensive rating has improved to 5th with a mark of 101.3 points allowed. That surely has had something to do with playing three bottom-five offenses in the last four games, but it’s still an improvement the Fever will be happy to see given they’re 7-0 when holding opponents under 100 points per 100 possessions and 2-5 when allowing triple-digit ratings.
The Dream are looking for a second straight win since being beaten by 14 points that felt more like 24 against the Liberty a week ago. Atlanta bounced back from that loss by routing the Toronto Tempo 102-77, their second time topping the century mark this season. Allisha Gray scored 26 points to lead that blowout, her first time scoring 20 points in the last five games, and added 7 assists without a turnover. Rhyne Howard wasn’t far behind with 24 points, chipping in 6 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and 3 blocks while she and Gray went 17-for-32 (53.1%) from the field and 9-for-20 (45%) from deep combined. Angel Reese wasn’t at her most efficient on a 6-for-19 night from the field, but had 15 points and 17 rebounds to help Atlanta to a +20 margin on the boards. After a slow start, Atlanta’s offensive rating (105.4, seventh) has climbed into the middle of that pack of teams between fourth (Dallas, 106.6 points per 100 possessions) and the Fever in ninth. Atlanta’s defensive rating, on the other hand, has been holding steady as the league’s second-best (98.8 points allowed per 100 possessions).