It’s been an iconic month for sports in New York City. 
The New York Knicks won the Finals for the first time since 1973, Gotham FC brought up the Challenger’s Cup trophy, and now, the New York Liberty are Commissioner’s Cup champions for a second time. 
The Las Vegas Aces, who were unfortunately without A’ja Wilson due to an ankle injury suffered over the weekend, looked lost on offense as they tried to find consistent shooting from literally anywhere in their lineup. For a moment, in the second half, that answer looked to be Jackie Young, but New York’s guard room beat out Las Vegas’ in the end. 
The Liberty desperately needed this win, as they had been skidding into this championship game. The Aces, conversely, have been cruising with Wilson piecing together yet another MVP-caliber season so far. However, this loss exposed weaknesses in their frontcourt and on offense when she’s not available.
Despite depth, experience, and X-factors always being the topic of discussion headed into big games like this, it all came down to who had more star power willing to step up to the plate for just one game &#8211; New York did. 
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<h2>New York Won The Guard Battle</h2>
<div id="attachment_265090" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-265090" class="wp-image-265090" src="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283541320-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" srcset="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283541320-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283541320-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283541320-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283541320-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283541320-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283541320-2048x1366.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" />Sabrina Ionescu #20 of the New York Liberty and Jackie Young #0 of the Las Vegas Aces</div>
I wrote<a href="https://www.wnba.com/news/rapid-reactions-commissioners-cup-2026"> that this game could end up</a> being a battle of the guards once we knew it would be Las Vegas against New York. 
 
Sabrina Ionescu had 26 points on a heavy shot diet. She was doing an excellent job throughout the contest of using her gravity to set up Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones cutting to the basket. Pauline Astier added 15 points on 5-8 shooting, and the two guards had half of the Liberty’s assists on the night. 
Jackie Young had 31 points, looking like the only Aces player who could find their shot &#8211; especially from three-point range. Chelsea Gray, very abnormally, had just seven points on 3-12 shooting. 
Chennedy Carter was the spark plug in the Aces guard room outside of Young, with her 18 points helping to keep Las Vegas in the contest in the first half when it felt like New York could potentially run away with things. But, as she’s ramping back up into regular action following an extended break from play, she only had 25 minutes on the court compared to Gray’s 36. 
In a game where the frontcourt battle wasn’t as much of a focal point as fans might’ve wanted it to be, New York managed to edge out the Aces star backcourt. 
<hr />
<h2>Las Vegas’ Frontcourt Depth Still an Issue?</h2>
Without Wilson, Las Vegas’ front court &#8211; NaLyssa Smith, Stephanie Talbot, Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, Bri Turner, and Kierstan Ball &#8211; had a combined 24 points on the night. Talbot and Turner had zero points combined in 21 minutes on the court. 
Stewart, alone, had 25 points for New York. She was the difference maker without Wilson on the floor. She deters players like Stewart, Jones, and even Ionescu from testing her at the rim, averaging two blocks per game. With her off the floor, the Liberty paced the Aces with 46 points in the paint. On the season, New York’s scoring 39.7 percent of their points in the paint. In this game, their 46 points accounted for nearly half of their scoring. 
It feels premature to say that Las Vegas is not as good a team without Wilson. We’ve seen Smith piece together some great performances in relief of Wilson, and Parker-Tyus has been a solid backup piece for the Aces. But you simply cannot replicate Wilson’s defensive presence. It’s one of one. New York felt that and took advantage of it immediately, which is a problem if you’re trying to give Wilson some relief in future contests. 
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<h2>History of Cup Predicting Finals Teams</h2>
<div id="attachment_265094" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-265094" class="wp-image-265094" src="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283547570-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="769" srcset="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283547570-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283547570-300x256.jpg 300w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283547570-1024x875.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283547570-768x656.jpg 768w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283547570-1536x1312.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/07/GettyImages-2283547570-2048x1750.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" />The New York Liberty with their 2023 and 2026 Commissioner&#8217;s Cup Championship trophies</div>
Over the last few seasons, the Commissioner’s Cup has been a great crystal ball into who might make a deep postseason run, or even a Finals appearance. There have been some discrepancies along the way since the Cup began in 2021 &#8211; the Indiana Fever beat the Minnesota Lynx in 2025 to take the Cup, but they couldn’t sustain that success due to a dearth of injuries. 
But, the Liberty, Aces, and Lynx all seem to just be trading spots in the Cup final and also in the postseason. In 2022, the Aces beat the Chicago Sky in the Cup championship and proceeded to win the Finals. In 2023, the Aces took on the Liberty for the first time in the championship, got completely bulldozed by New York, and then went back-to-back as WNBA Finals champions against them anyway. 
In 2024, Minnesota beat New York in the Cup finals, and then New York redeemed themselves for their 2023 fumble with a Finals win of their own against Minnesota that same year. 
So, could this year’s Cup championship slate mean anything for the postseason, or the Finals, specifically? 
Absolutely. These are two experienced, stacked teams with some youth injected and two very solid benches. Minnesota will obviously threaten the order of things once Napheesa Collier is back (and, it’s not like they’re not already tearing up the league without her, as they’re in first place). Still, New York against Las Vegas in this year’s Cup championship is as predictable a potential Finals preview as the sun rising tomorrow.

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Rapid Reactions: 2026 Commissioner's Cup Championship

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Commissioner's Cup 2026

The Commissioner’s Cup, held by the WNBA since 2021, has been a sly viewing window into what the postseason field could shape up to be once we hit September and October. 
 
Several recent cup winners or runners-up in those championship games have gone on to appear in the WNBA Finals. Most recently, the Indiana Fever, Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty, and Minnesota Lynx have dominated the Commissioner’s Cup and have either made deep postseason runs or reached the Finals. 
It makes the in-season tournament all the more exciting, as it’s an excellent way for teams to differentiate themselves as contenders months before the postseason even kicks off. Plus, it’s for a great cause &#8211; each team dedicates a portion of their winnings after each game of the tournament to a charity of their choice. 
Players keep the rest of those earnings, with the Cup winners receiving a prize pool for the championship team&#8217;s entire active roster. 
There’s an unbelievable amount of parity in the league headed into the first games of the tournament, so the competitiveness for this year’s Cup, in its sixth year, should be off the charts. Here are just a few things fans should expect from this year’s go-around. 
<hr />
<h2>High-scoring games</h2>
With the Commissioner’s Cup, point differential matters. The old-school rule of not running it up on your opponent does not apply to these contests. This differential helps teams to escape their respective “conferences,” which are divided by the East and West. Last year, the Lynx went on an absolute tear in the Western Conference with a +77 point differential, while the New York Liberty finished with a differential of +66. 
Point differential is used as a tiebreaker, followed by the head-to-head record during the Cup itself. Despite the Liberty having the larger point differential in the Eastern Conference in 2025, the Fever had beaten them during Cup play, so they earned the opportunity to face the Lynx in the final game. 
So, points matter throughout the Cup, but winning is the primary goal for teams seeking to represent their respective conference. 
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<h2>Threats to the status quo</h2>
<div id="attachment_261323" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-261323" class="wp-image-261323" src="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/05/GettyImages-2222400686-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" srcset="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/05/GettyImages-2222400686-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/05/GettyImages-2222400686-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/05/GettyImages-2222400686-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/05/GettyImages-2222400686-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/05/GettyImages-2222400686-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2026/05/GettyImages-2222400686-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" />The Indiana Fever pose for a photo after wining the 2025 WNBA Commissioner&#8217;s Cup Game</div>
While it’s expected that teams like the Liberty, Fever, Dream, and Aces will be the most competitive this year during Cup play, there are a few sleepers that could give these squads trouble. The Dallas Wings are hitting their stride offensively, though their defense remains a question mark as we careen towards the kickoff of Cup games. 
The Golden State Valkyries could also present some issues in the Western Conference, as Janelle Salaun and Veronica Burton have developed into a formidable duo on both ends of the floor. The Chicago Sky, despite some offensive woes to begin the year, are one of the best defensive teams in the league so far. That could be challenging for teams looking to run up the score against Chicago during Cup play. 
The Phoenix Mercury, despite losing Satou Sabally in free agency, also looks like the kind of deep, veteran-led team that could push to clinch the Western Conference during the Cup. They’ve been one of the best offenses to begin the season, with rookie Jovana Nogic, who is hitting 66.7 percent of her threes, being a huge surprise off the bench for them. 
Just as we saw last year with the Fever’s surprising victory over the Lynx to win the Commissioner’s Cup, anything can happen over the 17-day stretch in which Cup games take place. 
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<h2>Key matchups</h2>
The Wings will kick off Cup play on June 1, when they travel to Seattle to face the Storm. Seattle’s bench has been white-hot to kick off the year (averaging 34.7 points per game through their first three games), and they could be difficult for Dallas to contain as they figure out how to plug their defensive issues. 
The Lynx will travel to Phoenix on June 1 to try to establish some dominance over the Mercury. This could mean more than just an initial stab at winning a tiebreaker for this year’s Cup, but rather, a preview of another postseason series featuring these two teams. 
Indiana will be headed to New York to try and repeat their 2025 magic on June 6. A win would go a long way towards establishing a solid footing in the Eastern Conference Cup standings and would also serve as a nice test for a healthy Fever squad against a contender like the Liberty. 
One of the last games of the Cup is an Aces-Mercury Finals rematch on June 17. Phoenix dominated in their season opener against Las Vegas, so A’ja Wilson and the Aces are likely seeking some two-fold revenge against their Western Conference foes. 
 
This could come down to how well the Mercury can stick to their guns defensively to keep the score low, as well as a battle of the benches &#8211; one led by the rookie Nogic, and the other led by guard Chennedy Carter for the Aces. As of now, the Aces have the edge with an average of 32 points coming from their second unit compared to the Mercury’s output of 18 points per game through three games. 
On June 9, we’ll also get a look at the No. 1 overall pick, Azzi Fudd, versus the No. 2 overall pick, Olivia Miles. It’s too soon to say how this year’s Rookie of the Year or All-Rookie race is shaping up, but Miles seems firmly in control of that race. Fudd, who isn’t utilized as much by Dallas because of how deep their guard room is, might not be too big a factor in this contest. But, it’ll still be a fun contest for potential bragging rights, in addition to it mattering towards Cup standings.

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Commissioner’s Cup 2026 Primer: What to Expect

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Chennedy Carter

<ul>
<li>Selected No. 4 overall by Atlanta in the 2020 WNBA Draft.</li>
<li>2020 WNBA All-Rookie Team</li>
<li>Three-time USA Basketball medalist on junior national teams from 2014-2019.</li>
<li><a href="https://aces.wnba.com/full-bio-chennedy-carter">Click here for more on Chennedy Carter, including season-by-season, international, college and personal notes.</a></li>
</ul>

Chennedy Carter was waived by the Las Vegas Aces.

Chennedy Carter signed a Training Camp Contract with the Las Vegas Aces.

Let go by Las Vegas

Shines off bench in loss

Available to play

Upgraded to probable

Added to injury report

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