Fever 74, Lynx 59: Falling Short of Back-to-Back Cup Titles

The Minnesota Lynx’s attempt at back-to-back Commissioner’s Cup titles came up short, falling to the Caitlin Clark-less Indiana Fever in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship at Target Center.

For the second straight year, the Minnesota Lynx took the court in the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game, coming out of the Western Conference to fight against the Indiana Fever out of the Eastern Conference for a prize pool awarded to the winning team.

But this year, it didn’t end the way 2024 did for the Lynx with the Fever — without Caitlin Clark with a groin injury — coming into Target Center and defeating Minnesota 74-59 to claim the Cup trophy and the extra money awarded.

Since the Commissioner’s Cup Championship doesn’t count towards the regular season records, the Lynx remain 14-2 and atop the WNBA while the Fever remain at 8-8 on the year.

Quick Start for Lynx

Minnesota wasted no time getting off to a hot start at home in Tuesday’s contest, jumping out to a double-digit lead while leading by as much as 13 points and going on a 10-0 run at one point to grab an early 20-12 lead after the first quarter.

With momentum on the Lynx’s side, the tides quickly turned in the second quarter and beyond, turning the direction of the game in a matter of minutes.

Fever Take Over

From the opening minutes of the second quarter, Indiana flipped a switch and stormed back into the contest. The Fever dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Lynx 20-7 in the frame to retake the game with a 32-27 lead at halftime.

In the second half, Indiana did much of the same as it did at the end of the first half, once again outscoring Minnesota in the third quarter (20-15) to extend the lead and not look back. Despite a Lynx comeback attempt late, the Fever never let up to come away victorious.

Offensive Struggles for Lynx

Entering the game with a league-leading offensive rating through 16 games, Minnesota’s offense struggled outside of the solid first quarter that resulted in the Lynx gaining an early lead.

As an offense, Minnesota shot 34.9% from the field while connecting on just 25% of shots from three.

Three Lynx did get into double figures despite some shooting woes, with Alanna Smith posting a team-leading 15 points with five rebounds and two assists. Behind Smith, Napheesa Collier nearly recorded a double-double with 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and three steals, and Courtney Williams added 11 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

No Clark, No Problem

Hours before the start of the game, Clark was downgraded to out for Indiana with a left groin injury, an injury many thought would result in the Fever not having much of a chance against the Lynx.

However, Indiana held its own without its star, with five Fever players ending in double figures in scoring, with Commissioner’s Cup MVP Natasha Howard’s 16 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, and two steals and Aliyah Boston’s 12 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals leading the way.

Commissioner’s Cup Prize

In its fifth year, the annual in-season tournament ends with a championship game that features a large prize pool for the winning squad.

With Minnesota and Indiana coming out of each conference, the Fever win means they will take home a $500,00 prize pool. In addition to that, Coinbase — the presenting sponsor of the title game — committed $120,000 in cryptocurrency to the prize pool, which includes $5,000 for each player in the game.

With their 5-1 record in Commissioner’s Cup games during the regular season, the Lynx raised $16,000 in support of ACLU Minnesota, an organization whose mission is to protect the civil liberties of all Minnesotans through litigation, public education, and lobbying. The Fever’s 4-1 record in Cup games raised $13,000 for Peace Learning Center.

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Up Next

The regular season gets back underway for the Lynx this week as they continue on in their five-game homestand, returning to Target Center on Thursday against the Washington Mystics.

Minnesota and Washington will tip off at 7 PM CT and can be seen on FanDuel Sports Network North and on WNBA League Pass.