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Caitlin Clark, Fever Take Major Step to First Championship

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Paolo Songco | Last updated Jun 16, 2025 8:20 AM ET

Caitlin Clark marked her first taste of game action in three weeks with a massive performance for the Indiana Fever. On Saturday, the 23-year-old dropped a season-high 32 points, eight rebounds and nine assists to lead the Fever to a 102-88 victory over the defending champions, the New York Liberty.

Indiana improved to 5-5 on the season with their win against a previously undefeated Liberty side. It also saw them claim the top spot in the Eastern Conference in the Commissioner's Cup standings with a 3-1 record.

Teams in the East play each of the other sides in the conference once throughout the in-season tournament. This means that the Fever have just one game left in the Commissioner's Cup, which comes in the form of a home matchup against the Connecticut Sun (2-8 on the season, 1-3 in the Commissioner's Cup) on Tuesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The top team in the East will book its spot in the championship game on July 1 against the No. 1 team in the West, which means the Fever are now potentially just one victory away from heading to the title game.

It's not a clear path for the Fever at the moment, though. This is because the Atlanta Dream secured an 89-65 win over the Washington Mystics on Sunday. The Dream improved to 3-1 in the Commissioner's Cup and have now tied the Fever and the Liberty with the same record.

However, since the Dream won against the Fever on Tuesday, 77-58, it's Atlanta that owns the tie-breaker.

All teams are in action on Tuesday (except for the Phoenix Mercury), and the results will determine which two teams will proceed to the championship game.

Remaining Commissioner's Cup scenarios for Tuesday, Eastern edition:

Atlanta beat New York: Atlanta win the East.

New York beat Atlanta, and Connecticut beat Indiana: New York win the East.

New York beat Atlanta, and Indiana beat Connecticut: Indiana win the East.#WNBA
— Richard Cohen (@RichardCohen1) June 16, 2025

As the post above indicates, the Fever need to win on Tuesday against the Sun in order to book their spot in the title game, where they will play a single contest to potentially win their first championship. However, Indiana will also need the Liberty to beat the Dream. A win for Atlanta automatically sends them to the championship game.

As for the West, it's going to be either the Seattle Storm or the defending Commissioner's Cup champions, the Minnesota Lynx, who will represent the conference in the title game.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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