Lynx take Commissioner's Cup in statement win

ELMONT, N.Y. — The Minnesota Lynx are ready for a dialogue change in the WNBA.

“You got to talk about us now, you’ve got no choice,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said after her team beat the New York Liberty 94-89 to win the Commissioner’s Cup Trophy. “We don’t really care what you think, except for right now, when we get to say to you, ‘You’ve got to talk about us.’

“We just beat a superteam. You know how hard that is to do? Because you guys love your superteams. That’s all you want to talk about. But we just beat a superteam. Let’s talk about it.”

Last season, the WNBA narrative was dominated by discussion of so-called superteams Las Vegas and New York. They met for the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup, won by the Liberty, and then in the WNBA Finals, won by the Aces.

The Lynx — whose dynasty years ran from 2011 to 2017, when they won four titles and went to two other Finals — are ready to be back in the conversation about WNBA championships. The way they played Tuesday proved that, as has their 13-3 start this season.

The Commissioner’s Cup, an in-season competition started in 2021, has grown in prestige among the players, who compete for a $500,000 prize pool. The Cup format was changed this year with each team playing five regular-season games, rather than the previous 10, to determine their place in the Cup standings. Another change was having all the Cup games in a two-week span and then the final, all in June.

“I like the format this year. I like that it’s so condensed,” said Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, who was the game’s MVP with 21 points and 6 rebounds. “It’s easier to follow for the fans, and for us [players].

“And it means a lot. We’re competitors, and you want to win every game you’re in. The money makes it really fun as well. It’s a great team we just beat, it’s a game we won and we won some money. So it’s like a trifecta.”

That was an appropriate term, considering the game was at UBS Arena next to horse racing’s Belmont Park. The Liberty’s better finish in Cup play gave them hosting rights, but their home, Barclays Center in Brooklyn, was unavailable Tuesday as it was being prepared for Wednesday’s NBA draft.

Still, the Liberty crowd showed up loud and especially cheered on Courtney Vandersloot, who returned after missing eight games because of her mother’s death from cancer, and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, back after missing three games with a knee injury. They helped the Liberty get a 50-47 halftime lead.

But Minnesota took over in the third quarter, outscoring New York 19-10, and then held off the Liberty in the final quarter.

Collier is the Lynx’s star, but they also got big games from Bridget Carleton (23 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists) and Cecilia Zandalasini (15 points off the bench). The two combined to shoot 13-of-16 from the field.

Breanna Stewart (24 points, 11 rebounds) and Sabrina Ionescu (23 points, 10 rebounds) led New York. Like Collier, they are on the U.S. 5-on-5 Olympic team coached by Reeve. The Liberty’s issue Tuesday, more than anything, was their 21 turnovers.

That and the resilience of the Lynx. Reeve isn’t shy about saying her team, which rose to No. 1 Monday in the ESPN Power Rankings, has been underestimated. And even though Tuesday’s game doesn’t count in the regular-season standings, the message the Lynx sent was clear.

“We have a lot of offensive threats, but on defense, we’re so solid,” Collier said. “That’s why it’s so hard to play against us. Our aggressiveness, our willingness to sell out on anything [because] we have each other’s backs.

“This is the most talented, most fun team I’ve been on since I’ve been here. We want to build on this, we don’t want to peak here. We want to achieve bigger things than this at the end of the season.”