Jonquel Jones and New York Liberty emerged victorious in the Commissioner's Cup, defeating the Las Vegas Aces 82-63 in a game that was not the high-scoring affair many had anticipated.
Despite a poor shooting performance, the Liberty managed to shut down the Aces' offense and secure their second consecutive win over the team that had been dominating the league all summer.
This marks the first time the Liberty have won a piece of hardware in over 25 years in the WNBA, and it is also the first trophy for Joe and Clara Tsai, whose sports holdings include the Liberty, Nets, and two teams in the National Lacrosse League.
Jonquel Jones was named the Commissioner's Cup MVP, having scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the championship game, which was her 11th double-double of the season. After a slow start to the season, Jonquel Jones has returned to her best MVP form since the All-Star break, and that was evident once again on Tuesday night. This game doesn't count towards regular season statistics, but it's the ninth double-double in 13 games for Jones since the All-Star break, compared to just two in 18 games prior to the mid-season event. In addition, the Liberty are now 13-0 when she gets at least 10 shot attempts, with nine of those games coming since play resumed after the break.
Marine Johannès added 17 points off the bench for the Liberty, and Sabrina Ionescu finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. The Liberty have now won seven straight games.
Although this was a matchup between the two highest-scoring teams in the league, neither team was able to score early on. It took more than three and a half minutes for A'ja Wilson to hit a free throw and put points on the board. The Aces shot just 33% from the field as a team and 5-of-26 from the 3-point line. Jackie Young led the Aces with 16 points, while Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray each finished with 15 points. Wilson did not score in the second half and finished with nine points. This loss was the first for Las Vegas at home and their second in their past five games.
The Commissioner's Cup is in its third season, and the Liberty and Aces players split a $500,000 prize pool as a reward for reaching the championship game. Jonquel Jones and the Liberty players receive $30,000 each for winning, and Aces players receive $10,000 each. Additionally, Callen-Lorde, an organization that provides healthcare and related services targeted to New York's LGBTQ+ communities, will receive a total of $25,500 for New York's seven wins during the seeding games and the Cup victory.
The Aces went 9-1 in Commissioner's Cup play to reach the championship game, while the New York Liberty went 7-3 and won the tiebreaker with the Connecticut Sun to make it to the championship. Tuesday's game was an extra one this season, and the two teams will play again on Thursday in Las Vegas.