The Commissioner’s Cup debuted last year with a championship matchup between the Seattle Storm and Connecticut Sun that, at the time, was thought to be a potential WNBA Finals meeting. It didn’t turn out that way as neither team advanced to the championship series.
This year’s version again feels very much like a Finals preview. The Chicago Sky and Las Vegas Aces are the top two teams in the league standings and ESPN’s WNBA Power Rankings, and have been among the hottest teams since the All-Star Game.
Chicago hosts Las Vegas on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET). The Commissioner’s Cup championship game is on Amazon Prime, which was part of the deal the WNBA reached with Amazon in 2021 as another revenue source for the league.
Both teams lost this past week, but those were the only losses the Sky and Aces have had since Team A’ja Wilson won the All-Star Game on July 10. Both are 5-1 in that stretch, but Chicago has done it without All-Star point guard Courtney Vandersloot, who has missed the past four games while in concussion protocol.
The Sky’s 83-80 loss at the New York Liberty on Saturday was their third game in four days, plus they had travel delays on the way to the Big Apple. Chicago coach James Wade brushed off questions about fatigue, saying it is just part of what all teams deal with. Despite the obstacles, the Sky still almost won that game.
Las Vegas has had defensive concerns in recent weeks, but coach Becky Hammon was happy with the way the Aces played in beating Los Angeles 84-66 on Saturday, calling it one of their better all-around efforts on both ends.
The Aces are now in for a travel test: Their next six games, starting with the Cup final, are on the road. They will go from Chicago to Indiana (two games) to Washington to Dallas to…
Source : espn
