WNBA: NY Liberty now on top of the East in the Commissioner’s Cup

Entering Tuesday, only two undefeated teams remained in the Eastern Conference Commissioner’s Cup: the New York Liberty and the Indiana Fever.

When the night ended, only the Liberty remained on top thanks to their 85-66 win over the Chicago Sky and the Fever losing to the Atlanta Dream 77-58.

Queens of New York

The Liberty have been the best team in the WNBA for quite some time now. They won the 2024 WNBA championship and have started that title defense off right, winning their first nine games, including all three of their Commissioner’s Cup games.

They obliterated the Sky, leading by as many as 34 points and never trailing, thrilling a crowd in Brooklyn that included French Open champion Coco Gauff. Sabrina Ionescu was dominant for New York with 23 points and seven assists. Breanna Stewart scored 18 and grabbed seven rebounds.

New York rules the WNBA in virtually all statistical categories. They are No. 1 in points, blocks, steals and 3-point percentage. They are experiencing no title hangover, and as the season progresses, it’s getting harder and harder to envision a team that can beat them in a series.

While the Liberty have been impressive, the Sky have been disappointing. No one besides Angel Reese can be counted on to produce offensively, and now Courtney Vandersloot is done for the year due to a torn ACL.

It’s early, but Chicago has been playing poorly, and considering they’ve made some significant changes, including hiring a new coach, the front office should be under scrutiny if things don’t begin to turn around.

The Dream are legit

Atlanta is now 6-3 on the season and playing well. They dominated a Caitlin Clark-less Fever with ease and got a big performance from Allisha Gray, who ended the night with 23 points. Brionna Jones added 21 points and also had 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season.

Suddenly, the Dream, with an elite backcourt and quality frontcourt, appear to be one of the toughest teams to play against in the league. The Fever might be equally as good, but without Clark, they are a bit shorthanded. They’ll have to wait till she’s back to test themselves against the league’s best teams.

The Valkyries own the Sparks

Golden State is now 2-1 against the Sparks after beating them 89-81 in Commissioner’s Cup play on Monday.

The game was a tight contest that went into overtime in LA, but the Valkyries outscored the Sparks 11-3 in the final five minutes to secure the win. Neither team is a contender, but so far, the expansion Valkyries have played better than the Sparks. If the season ended right now, Golden State would be a postseason team.

In Monday’s win, Janelle Salaün torched the Sparks, scoring 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting. There’s something about Los Angeles that she likes, as she’s averaging 19.5 points against them this year.

For LA, this was a new, more painful way to lose, as they failed to protect home court and lost their first overtime game of the season. Kelsey Plum did everything in her power to secure the win. She played 41 minutes, scored 24 points and recorded a team-high seven assists. It wasn’t enough, and the Sparks are all but eliminated from the Commissioner’s Cup as the Minnesota Lynx rule in the West with three wins and no losses.