The Commissioner’s Cup final is headed back to New York, where the Liberty will face the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday, June 30, for a $500,000 purse. It is a rematch of the 2023 Cup championship, when New York upset Las Vegas in a preview of their eventual WNBA Finals matchup later that season.
The Liberty are the hosts this time around, after winning their previous Cup in Las Vegas. They hosted the 2024 championship game — a loss to the Minnesota Lynx — but had to relocate to Long Island because of the NBA Draft. This is the first Cup title game to be contested at Barclays Center.
Advertisement
New York clinched its berth in the final two games ago, but the Liberty earned the right to host by eking out a 96-95 win over the Chicago Sky on Wednesday. That gave New York a clean sweep (6-0) of its Eastern Conference games and the tiebreaker over Las Vegas.
The Aces were in control of their destiny Wednesday due to their head-to-head win over Minnesota, needing only a win over the Phoenix Mercury to secure their berth. Las Vegas pulled away in the fourth quarter to win 86-76 in its first trip to Phoenix since clinching the 2025 league title on the Mercury’s home floor. Aces star center A’ja Wilson led the way with a game-high 33 points, 10 rebounds and five steals.
The Liberty and Aces have not played each other yet this season. Their first regular-season matchup is on Saturday, June 23, in Las Vegas, an appetizer for the main event to follow in New York. But the teams are no strangers to one another; in addition to the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup, the Liberty and the Aces met in the 2023 and 2024 postseasons, splitting the two series as they split the two WNBA titles.
The star power is off the charts, as the Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones and the Aces’ Wilson have won six of the last seven MVP awards and five of the last seven Finals MVPs.
Advertisement
The Liberty finally have their full roster together, after welcoming back Sabrina Ionescu on Sunday against the Washington Mystics following a three-week absence due to injury. Ionescu had 5 points in her return and doubled that to 10 against the Sky, including the game-winning bucket with 10.3 seconds to play. New York is riding an eight-game winning streak.
The Aces have won seven of their last eight games behind the dominance of Wilson, who is the favorite to capture yet another MVP trophy. She leads the league in points and blocks per game.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
New York Liberty, Las Vegas Aces, WNBA
2026 The Athletic Media Company
