The Fever “put together their best performance of the season and in doing so, secured their most impressive win to date,” taking down the Lynx, 74-59, in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game Tuesday night at the Target Center. The victory “comes with a $500,000 payout for the Fever,” who saw G Caitlin Clark miss her third straight game with a groin injury. In the stands, Lynx fans “far outnumbered the number of Fever fans” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 7/1). 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.” But despite that, the game still drew a crowd of 12,778 (MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE, 7/2). Once it was “determined the Fever and potentially Clark were the opponents,” the lower bowl at Target Center “sold out in an alleged eight minutes” (MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE, 7/1).
There was a bit of a scary moment at halftime of the game, when popular halftime show performer Red Panda “fell off her unicycle and crashed to the court” and was “unable to finish her show.” There was “no immediate word on the extent of her injuries.” Red Panda, whose name is Rong Niu, “appeared to be grabbing at her left wrist after the fall -- she fell forward off the unicycle onto the court -- and was helped off the floor by wheelchair” (AP, 7/1).
