Sheryl Swoopes is a four-time WNBA champion, three-time MVP, and three-time DPOY. She knows what great basketball looks like, and one game that caught her attention lately was the Indiana Fever’s 90-82 win against the Golden State Valkyries. The game had everything: a logo 3-pointer from Caitlin Clark, Clark and Tiffany Hayes getting into it, and relentless effort from the Valkyries on the second night of a back-to-back.
After such an exciting game, Swoopes is ready for more. When she appeared on The Women’s Hoop Show with Jordan Robinson, Swoopes cited the rematch between the two teams on Thursday as must-watch TV.
“I’m going to be front and center, Thursday the 28th. Indiana Fever at Golden State,” Swoopes said. “That is going to be spicy.”
But that’s not it. Swoopes would also love to see the Fever and Valkyries meet in the Commissioner’s Cup Final. When asked to pick her dream matchup for the finals, Swoopes offered Dream vs. Aces, Sparks vs. Aces, and Fever vs. Valkyries.
“I’m going to go with Golden State-Indiana,” Swoopes eventually said. “That last game, I was like, give me more or go to overtime or something because I’m not ready for this game to be over.”
The Valkyries got reinforcements for their rematch with the Fever
Cecilia Zandalasini returned from a concussion she suffered in the regular-season opener, and Juste Jocyte made her long-awaited WNBA debut when the Valkyries took on the Connecticut Sun. With both on the bench, the Valkyries are finally at full strength.
Zandalasini is a trusted role player, who often found herself as the team’s go-to option after Kayla Thornton’s season-ending injury last year. As a big wing who can space the floor and defend, she could give the Fever some trouble. Outside of Lexie Hull and Sophie Cunningham, the Fever don’t have a ton on the wing. Zandalasini, Janelle Salaün, and Tiffany Hayes make for a formidable bench trio. The Fever’s second unit will have its hands full with them.
Jocyte is much more of a wild card. She is only 20 years old and hasn’t even spent five whole minutes on a WNBA court yet. But she’s a high-level scorer who could add yet another scoring punch to the Valkyries’ bench and maybe take the Fever by surprise.
The Fever could repeat as Commissioner’s Cup champions
Last season, the Indiana Fever faced the Minnesota Lynx in the Commissioner’s Cup final. They secured a 74-59 win behind double-doubles from Natasha Howard and Aliyah Boston while Caitlin Clark was sidelined with an injury. The victory came with a $500,000 prize pool for the Fever.
The prize money matters a bit less under the new CBA than it has in previous years, but there’s still plenty of incentive for teams to want to win the Commissioner’s Cup. It’s usually an early indicator of which teams will go far in the playoffs.
Indiana will have a solid shot at making it out of the Eastern Conference, but the Atlanta Dream could pose a problem. In the West, the early favorites are the Valkyries and Aces, although the Minnesota Lynx and Dallas Wings could also make some noise, and Portland is always ready to spoil someone’s night.
Add us as a preferred source on Google