Liberty’s win sends Caitlin Clark’s Fever to Commissioner’s Cup title game

The Liberty spoiled the Dream’s shot at the Commissioner’s Cup title Tuesday when they handed Atlanta its second loss of in-season tournament play.

The Dream, who also lost to the Sun earlier this season, needed a win to earn the right to represent the Eastern Conference in the Cup championship game July 1.

But Atlanta squandered a 17-point lead in the second half, which paved the way for the Fever to punch their ticket instead.

Indiana is set to play the defending Cup champions Lynx in Minnesota for this year’s in-season tournament title.

Even with Tuesday’s loss, though, Atlanta (8-4) has a lot to be proud of.

The Dream hired coach Karl Smesko from Florida Gulf Coast, and added Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones to accompany Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray.

The Dream have been a floundering WNBA team for quite some time.

They haven’t won a playoff game since 2018 and have never won a title. But they underwent a major glow up this offseason.

The moves have helped the Dream (8-4) become one of the league’s hottest teams to start this season.

Sabrina Ionescu scored a game-high 32 points during the Liberty’s 86-81 comeback win over the Dream on June 17, 2025. Michelle Farsi / New York Post

Smesko is happy with how his WNBA debut season has started, but he said the Dream are far from a finished product.

“We have high expectations. We expect to be good,” he said. “If we have the right mindset throughout the season — and it’s really just one of getting better all the time — I think we have the potential to have a great team at the end and be really tough team come playoff time. But there’s a lot of things that happen between now and then.”

Jonquel Jones was noticeably not quite herself in her first game back after spraining her right ankle earlier this month.

She had the tall task of handling 6-foot-9 Brittney Griner in the post and looked a step slow at times.

Jonquel Jones scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Liberty’s win, her first game back
from a right ankle injury. Michelle Farsi / New York Post

Still, Jones registered her sixth double-double this season, with 10 rebounds and 10 points — all of which were scored in the second half.

“It was great to have her back,” coach Sandy Brondello said. “Obviously she isn’t 100 percent conditioned. She was a bit winded. She has to get the legs back under her, but she competed so hard and she’s just impactful.”

The Liberty’s 102-88 loss at Indiana was the third-most watched WNBA game in ABC history, the network announced Tuesday.

The game — Caitlin Clark’s first in three weeks after she injured her quad — averaged 2.2 million viewers and peaked at 2.8 million.

That’s a 76 percent increase when compared to last year’s WNBA on ABC regular-season average.

Brondello, who’s been around the WNBA since 1998, has always known women’s basketball was a league worthy of attention.

But the booming interest in recent years has been rewarding for her to see.

“The more people we can get eyes on our game, they’ll fall in love with it because it’s the best players in the world,” she said.