Lynx fall to Fever 74-59 in Commissioner’s Cup title game

If there is some good to come out of what happened Tuesday night at Target Center, it might be this:

Despite a national broadcast, significant hype and the rather large purse that came with the Commissioner’s Cup championship game, it doesn’t count in the standings.

The bad news: In a 74-59 loss to a .500 Indiana team playing without an injured Caitlin Clark, the Lynx picked the national spotlight to play some of their worst basketball of the season.

“We didn’t have our usual sort of fortitude, our fight, our response to physicality,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “They beat us. Give them credit.”

The Lynx were outplayed to a surprising extent in a game that turned like a flash shortly after Jessica Shepard’s basket with 8:13 left in the second quarter gave Minnesota a 13-point lead.

The rest of the half: Indiana, 18-0.

From that point until Natasha Howard’s floater put the Fever up nine early in the third quarter: Indiana, 24-2.

“They sort of found their rhythm,” Reeve said. “And we lost ours.”

BOXSCORE: Indiana 74, Lynx 59

WNBA standings

Howard, the game’s MVP, scored 16 points with 12 rebounds. She also guarded Lynx forward Napheesa Collier much of the night. Collier finished with 12 points and nine rebounds but was 6-for-18. Late in the game, Aliyah Boston — who also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards — and Collier got into it a little bit; moments later, after Boston scored, she lifted her arms to the crowd of 12,778.

It was that kind of night.

Or maybe the Fever just dialed things up a bit after falling behind early.

“I don’t know if it was being more physical,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “I think we were just a little more disruptive. Got into passing lanes. Didn’t allow them to just pass the ball. Made their movements more difficult. Our intensity was better.”

The Lynx set season lows in points, shooting (34.9%) and assists (13) and tied a season low in field goals made (22). Their 27 first-half points was a season low, and their seven points in the second quarter marked Minnesota’s lowest output in a quarter all season.

After falling behind by nine early in the third quarter, the Lynx never got closer than six points again.

“We always want to play our best basketball,” Smith said. “And so we have to take this game to heart. Learn from the mistakes we made, the way we showed up, the way we prepared, and make sure we don’t do it again.”

This year?