By Matthew Davis
The Indiana Fever won the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup on Tuesday and did it without Caitlin Clark on the court.
Clark sat out her third-straight game due to a groin strain that she sustained on June 24. Indiana nonetheless took control and beat the Minnesota Lynx 74–59 at the Target Center to conclude the in-season tournament.
“Learning to play without her, learning to make big plays in tough moments on both ends of the floor, is important,” Fever head coach Stephanie White told reporters afterward. “That’s going to pay dividends down the stretch of the season for us. Caitlin is somebody who has oftentimes made plays for them, and they’re learning how to do that for one another.”
Indiana went 2–3 without Clark earlier this season when she missed five games due to a quad strain. The Fever have fared better this time around with Clark sidelined amid a 2–1 mark, which includes a big upset in front of a national audience.
“I described this entire experience as a gut check experience,” Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell told reporters afterward. “We bought in. All 5 of us, whoever was on the floor, bought in.”
Fever forward Natasha Howard led the way with a double double of 16 points and 12 rebounds plus four assists and two steals. Howard also won the Commissioner’s Cup MVP in the process.
“Tash is a pro that flies under the radar in this league,” Mitchell said. “She’s won on every level, and I think we have to give her her flowers a little bit more.”
Howard particularly stepped up with her big defensive performance against Minnesota forward and WNBA scoring leader Napheesa Collier. The Lynx star shot 6-18 from the field and 0-2 from three-point range.
“She’s a great player,” Howard told reporters afterward. “But my thing was just limit her to hard shots, and that’s what I did tonight. Made it uncomfortable for her. I couldn’t do it … myself. I had my teammates behind me helping me out.”
Minnesota shot 34.9 percent as a team from the field and just 25 percent from three-point range collectively. The Lynx also got outrebounded 40-30 by the Fever.
“We have a tendency sometimes to get impatient,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve told reporters afterward. “Our commitment to moving the basketball and creating advantages … we had a hard time getting that done.
Minnesota only had 13 assists for the game, and turnovers played a role amid 16. The Fever meanwhile shot 42.9 percent from the field, and Indiana moved the ball well amid 20 assists.
“We didn’t have our usual sort of fortitude, fight and response to physicality. They beat us, give them credit,” Reeve said.
It thwarted the Lynx’s hopes of a second-straight Commissioner’s Cup win. Minnesota won it in 2024 against the New York Liberty, and the two ironically met again in the WNBA Finals.
“It’s good to look at it as a learning opportunity,” Lynx forward Alanna Smith told reporters afterward. “We always want to play our best basketball. So we have to take this game to heart and learn from the mistakes we made, the way we showed up, the way we prepared, and make sure we don’t do it again.”
Minnesota still has the league’s best record at 14–2, and the Commissioner’s Cup final doesn’t count toward the league standings. The Lynx get back to action on Thursday against the Washington Mystics.
Indiana returns to action at home on Thursday against the Las Vegas Aces, and it still remains uncertain if Clark will return for that game. In her second WNBA season, Clark averaged 18.2 points, five rebounds, 8.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game.
Clark has been the game’s biggest star since she became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in 2024 followed by the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft. She recently led all players in All-Star votes this season.
