How the Fever rallied past the Lynx to win the WNBA Commissioner's Cup

Behind a dominant second quarter in which the Indiana Fever scored 18 unanswered points, the Fever rallied and then held off the Minnesota Lynx to win the 2025 Commissioner's Cup final 74-59 in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

And they did it without point guard and WNBA All-Star captain Caitlin Clark, who missed her third consecutive game due to a groin injury.

Natasha Howard had a team-high 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Fever and was named Cup MVP. Indiana trailed 20-12 at the end of the first quarter but outscored Minnesota 20-7 in the second period, holding Minnesota without a point for the final 8 minutes, 13 seconds of the first half.

Last year, Minnesota won the Cup final on the road at New York. The away team has won the past four Commissioner's Cup titles.

Here's how the Fever won the Commissioner's Cup title.

Jump to: Analysis and result | Relive the action

Indiana Fever vs. Minnesota Lynx

Final: Indiana Fever 74, New York Liberty 59

What does this victory mean for Indiana? The Fever needed this. With Caitlin Clark on the bench (groin) and DeWanna Bonner having left the team last week, Indiana has been through some adversity. Yet the Fever came onto the home court of the first-place team in the WNBA and shut down the Lynx.

Tuesday's defensive effort was the best the Fever have been on that end of the court all season, led by Natasha Howard. The 2019 Defensive Player of the Year when she was in Seattle, Howard was one of the primary reasons Minnesota's Napheesa Collier had a tough night. Collier finished 6-of-18 from the field for 12 points.

"She's a great player," Howard said. "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 my myself. I had my teammates behind me helping me out."

Howard also got her offense going after a slow start, finishing with a team-high 16 points to go along with 12 rebounds and four assists.

"Tash is a pro that flies under the radar in this league," teammate Kelsey Mitchell said. "She's won on every level, and I think we have to give her her flowers a little bit more."

The Fever guards did their job, too. They held down the scoring in the first quarter, when post players Howard and Aliyah Boston (12 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists) were struggling to establish themselves. Sophie Cunningham finished with 13 points and fellow guards Mitchell and Aari McDonald had 12 points each.

Obviously, the Fever are eager to get Clark -- who has now missed eight games with injuries -- back in the lineup. But Tuesday's game was an example of how well Indiana can play even when she is sidelined.

"Learning to play without her, learning to make big plays in tough moments on both ends of the floor, is important," Fever coach Stephanie White said. "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."

What does this result mean to Minnesota? Collier, the WNBA's leading scorer, at 24.4 PPG entering the game, had just 12 on Tuesday. She has scored in double figures every game this season except one, when she had seven points against Las Vegas on June 17 but had to leave in the third quarter because of back issues.

Tuesday's stats don't count toward players' regular-season averages, but it was a stat line we are not used to from Collier. She didn't speak to media after the game.

The Lynx did not score for the last 8:13 of the second quarter. The last time the Lynx went eight consecutive minutes without scoring was Aug. 4, 2011, against San Antonio, the franchise that is now the Las Vegas Aces. That was the season the Lynx won their first of four WNBA titles.

"We have a tendency sometimes to get impatient," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said of Minnesota's offensive struggles. "Our commitment to moving the basketball and creating advantages ... we had a hard time getting that done.

"We didn't have our usual sort of fortitude, fight and response to physicality. They beat us, give them credit."

This loss doesn't hurt the Lynx in the standings. They are a league-best 14-2 and finish this week with three more games at home.

"It's good to look at it as a learning opportunity," said forward Alanna Smith, who led the Lynx with 15 points. "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."

What does it mean for the WNBA? This was the fifth Commissioner's Cup final, and the fifth champion. The Fever follow the Seattle Storm, the Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty and Minnesota in winning the in-season competition.

The event has become something the players look forward to, especially because of the extra prize money. But it also provides an additional showcase for the league before the playoffs.

Did the Fever send a message by winning this game with Caitlin Clark sidelined? Did the Lynx -- who have been the WNBA's most consistent team this season -- show some vulnerability? At least for Tuesday, the answer to both questions is yes.

It is just one game on July 1 in a long season, so that has to be considered. But with the rest of the league watching Tuesday, the Fever -- who were 10.5-point underdogs coming in -- gave themselves a needed confidence boost.

That might be the biggest takeaway of this Cup final. As a franchise, the Fever's last title was its lone WNBA championship in 2012. Now Indiana has another trophy. -- Michael Voepel