The defending champs are out.
Before Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever could take the court for their final Commissioner’s Cup game, their title defense was already dead. According to Yahoo! Sports, the New York Liberty slammed the door on Indiana’s hopes on Sunday, June 14, beating the Washington Mystics to improve to 5-0 in Cup play and officially punch their ticket to the championship game.
For a Fever team that looked primed to make another run, the timing couldn't have been more brutal.
Indiana enters its final Cup contest with a 4-1 record and a three-game winning streak, but none of it matters. Even if the Fever finish tied with New York in the standings, the Liberty own the tiebreaker after handing Indiana its only Commissioner’s Cup loss on June 6.
Under tournament rules, “the first tiebreaker in the competition is the head-to-head matchup between the teams that are tied,” making that defeat the one Indiana couldn't afford.
That's the cruel reality of the Commissioner’s Cup. Five games. One slip-up. Cup run over.
The exit stings because expectations around Clark and the Fever have only grown since last summer. Indiana captured the 2025 Commissioner’s Cup by knocking off the Minnesota Lynx in the title game, turning what was once viewed as a midseason showcase into a statement moment for one of the league's fastest-rising franchises.
The Fever have looked like contenders throughout Cup play. They've won three straight tournament games and remain one of the hottest teams in the WNBA.
But the Liberty never blinked. New York ripped through the Eastern Conference undefeated, leaving no room for error. That June 6 loss — a game in which Indiana led by as many as 12 points — now looms larger than any victory that followed.
