Indiana Fever win WNBA Commissioner’s Cup without injured Caitlin Clark

By Ben Church, CNN

(CNN) — Caitlin Clark might have been absent through injury but that didn’t stop the Indiana Fever from winning the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup on Tuesday.

The Fever beat the reigning champion Minnesota Lynx 74-59 with a brilliant performance at the Target Center, led by forward Natasha Howard who finished the night with 16 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

“You’ve got to have the confidence in yourself and the confidence in your teammates to allow someone else to step up in those moments, and I think that this group is learning that,” Fever coach Stephanie White said after the win.

WNBA superstar Clark sat courtside to watch her teammates battle it out in the final. The 23-year-old has been sidelined with a groin injury for the last three three games now, but the Fever looked impressive without their best player.

“So proud,” Clark wrote in an Instagram Story post alongside a series of pictures celebrating the title in the locker room.

Howard spearheaded a balanced attack from the Fever, who had five players in double figures on the night and didn’t let an early deficit hold them back.

Despite racing into a 13-point lead early in the game, the Lynx began to struggle against the tough Fever defense.

Minnesota ended the night with its worst offensive performance of the season, shooting just 4-of-16 from deep, way below its season average of 9.4 made three-pointers per game.

Lynx All-Star Napheesa Collier was also kept relatively quiet on the night, managing just 12 points on 6-of-18 shooting to go with nine rebounds and three steals.

“Phee’s a great player, but my thing was, make her take hard shots, and that’s what I did tonight,” Commissioner’s Cup final MVP Howard said.

While 27-14 down in the second quarter, the game was looking to be getting away from the Fever but momentum quickly swung their way.

The Fever ended the first half on an 18-0 run through a balanced team effort with Sophie Cunningham’s hitting a pair of three-pointers in the process – the guard ended the night with 13 points.

Indiana then held a 32-27 lead heading into the second half but didn’t take its foot off the gas, opening up a double-digit lead with Howard getting into a rhythm.

The Lynx – who own the league’s best record at 14-2 – never really got close to retaking the lead after that, in what was their first home defeat of the season, though the final will not count towards the regular season standings.

“We always want to play our best basketball,” Minnesota forward Alanna Smith said after scoring 15 points.

“So we have to take this game to heart and learn from the mistakes that we made in this game, the way we showed up, the way that we prepared, and just make sure that we don’t do it again.”

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