Everybody breathe. The WNBA Western Conference provided some thrills (and scares) on Wednesday night in Commissioner's Cup action. Here's where things stand as the Cup heads toward its climax.
WNBA Commissioner's Cup Western Conference standings
Team | Record | Point differential |
|---|---|---|
1. Seattle Storm | 3-1 | +23 |
2. Minnesota Lynx | 3-1 | +40 |
3. Phoenix Mercury | 3-2 | -8 |
4. Golden State Valkyries | 2-2 | +7 |
5. Los Angeles Sparks | 2-2 | +17 |
6. Las Vegas Aces | 1-2 | -30 |
7. Dallas Wings | 0-4 | -49 |
WNBA Commissioner's Cup Eastern Conference Standings
Team | Record | Point differential |
|---|---|---|
1. New York Liberty | 3-0 | +75 |
2. Indiana Fever | 2-1 | +17 |
3. Atanta Dream | 1-1 | +11 |
4. Washington Mystics | 1-2 | +20 |
5. Connecticut Sun | 1-2 | -77 |
6. Chicago Sky | 0-2 | -46 |
A'ja Wilson injury update after leaving Aces game
Unfortuantely, perhaps the biggest story of the night isn't a fun one, as A'ja Wilson left the Aces game with a head injury. The team put out a press release after the game that it was a "head injury" and more info will be provided when more info is known. That sucks!
A note from Aces PR before the buzzer vs. the Sparks: “A’ja Wilson left tonight’s game with a head injury with 1:17 remaining in the third quarter and did not return. Additional information will be supplied upon further evaluation.”
— Callie Fin (@CallieJLaw) June 12, 2025
On the court, Vegas lost to Los Angeles, but Wilson's health is obviously at the forefront of everyone in the Aces organization.
Alyssa Thomas posts double-double in return to action
In her first game back from a calf injury, Alyssa Thomas looked a whole lot like Alyssa Thomas. 11 points, 10 assists, 2 steals, 1 block in just 24 minutes. What a player.
Phoenix kept its head above water without Thomas, but this is a whole different team when she's on the court. A win tonight improved their record to 7-4 overall and 3-2 in Commissioner's Cup games. They're out of contention for the title game, but hey, these still count as regular season wins, too, so a win's a win.
Seattle Storm hand Lynx first loss of season in thriller
And then there was one... undefeated team in the W, that is. The Seattle Storm beat the Minnesota Lynx, 94-84, in one of the best games of the early season, and a game that was massive for two reasons; firstly, it's the Lynx' first loss of the season, as they "fall" to 9-1. It also vaults the Storm to the top of the Western Conference Commissioner's Cup standings, and puts them in prime position to make their first Cup final since 2021, when they beat Connecticut.
Things got a little contentious at the end of this one; Erica Wheeler elected to shoot when the game was already decided, and the Lynx took a little offense to that. As I always say... You can't stop trying at the end of the game and assume the other team is going to stop trying, too. If you don't want the other team to score late... stop them! Also, point differential matters in the Cup. Wheeler made the smart basketball play.
Paige Bueckers has career night, but Wings fall to Mercury
The Dallas Wings have a long way to go before they compete with the elite teams in the W; but they can still sleep well at night knowing that Paige Bueckers is the franchise player she was billed as when the team took her No. 1 overall this year. 35 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 stocks, 13-19 from the field, 5-7 from deep for Paige tonight. Monster in the making.
How does the WNBA Commissioner's Cup work?
It's a pretty simple setup; each conference plays a round-robin format from June 1st to June 17th, and the team with the best record in those round-robin games from each conference compete in the Commissioner's Cup championship game.
If two teams are tied for the best record in either conference, the winner of the head-to-head matchup between them will win the tiebreaker. If more than two teams are tied for the best record, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head matchups, and the second tiebreaker is point differential.
Commissioner's Cup games also count as regular season games, so teams still have reason to give 100 percent even if they're eliminated from Cup contention.
When was the Commissioner's Cup first played?
This is still a relatively new in-season tourney for the league, which established it in 2020 (but it wasn't actually played until 2021 because of COVID.) I'm not sure if the casual fan is super bought into it yet, but I hope it sticks around — I think it's good to break up a regular season with more competitions.
No team has won the Cup more than once; the Storm, Lynx, Liberty and Aces all have one title. Wednesday's win was one giant step for the Storm to meet the Liberty in the title gamer — but there's still a lot of basketball to play.