The significance of the Commissioner’s Cup lies in the eye of the beholder.

It’s been one week since the underdog Indiana Fever popped bottles in the visitors locker room of the league-leading Minnesota Lynx to celebrate their Commissioner’s Cup championship. The Cup final served as a gut-check and potential turning point, players said in the lead-up as well as ensuing hours.

That assertion fared fine at first. The Fever crushed the Las Vegas Aces two nights later, 81-54, for the franchise’s first win in the series since 2019. Yet, on Saturday, Indiana once again fell back to .500 in a two-point loss to the five-win Los Angeles Sparks. In an admittedly small data set, the Fever appear to be who they have been all year, treading water in Caitlin Clark’s absence. At 9-9, they’re tied with the Aces and one game from missing a postseason berth.

The Lynx viewed their statement Cup win a year ago as a turning point. It was clear they could be among the best in the league, and they lived up to it throughout the back end of the season as much as they did in the first by taking the New York Liberty to the final minutes of a deciding Finals Game 5.

“I think you can look at this game as the turning point for us as well, because OK, we got exposed in some areas,” Lynx forward Jessica Shepard, who did not play in 2024 while with her Italian club, said after the loss. “We know we can’t show up like we did today if we want to be in the finals at the end of the year.”

The result does not count in either team’s regular-season standings. The Lynx went 3-0 the rest of the week with wins over Washington (by a score of 92-76), Golden State (82-71) and Chicago (80-75). While none of those opponents are in the top echelon, the Lynx (17-2) answered the call of a growth mindset.

“We still want to hold it in a place that it means something to us,” forward Alanna Smith said after the loss. “We always want to play our best basketball. And so we have to take this game to heart and, like I said, learn from the mistakes we made in this game. The way we showed up. The way that we prepared. And make sure that we don’t do it again.”

They defeated the teams they were supposed to, and defeated one of the two teams (Mystics) that defeated them in the season’s first third. (The other was Seattle.) The Liberty (12-6) and Mercury (12-6) trail the Lynx by 4.5 games.

It’s more than likely Minnesota is the team we saw before the Cup final than the one we saw on the court at Target Center, where shot attempts hit every part of the rim and rarely the net. It’s because they have what few others in the league do: chemistry and continuity.

Lynx head coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve said the morning of the Cup that the front office considered its roster-building options in the offseason. They asked themselves if it was “enough” to keep the team, specifically their five starters, intact.

“The things that you look for [is] what’s repeatable?” Reeve said. “Were there performances that you go, well that’s not going to happen again. What’s repeatable? And the core of our identity was our chemistry. And I had to ask [the team], are we going to have the disease of me kick in? Are we going to have some stuff … things are always different. But is it repeatable? And we made the determination that it was, and it has been.”

The Lynx ranked first in offensive and defensive rating, nearly doubled their net scoring to 11.2 points and could break the league record for assisted shot rate (76.61). They set it a year ago with an assisted shot rate of 76.43%.

“It’s kind of our superpower,” Reeve said, “the connection that they have [and] the belief that they have.”

Yahoo Sports performer of the week: Aliyah Boston, Indiana Fever

Boston taking another step in her third season is how the Fever have been able to float at .500 without their play-making point guard available. She’s been more of a facilitator, especially without Clark on the floor. The 6-foot-5 center averaged 21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block in Indiana’s two regular-season games last week while shooting 60% from the floor.

Game of the week

Minnesota Lynx at Phoenix Mercury, Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. ET on League Pass: Neither of their previous two meetings came at full strength. The Lynx needed a comeback for a 74-71 win on May 30 without Napheesa Collier available, while the Mercury went without Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper, two of their big three. Days later, the Collier-led Lynx crushed the still-shorthanded Mercury by 23. Satou Sabally missed Monday night’s game, but if she’s healthy for this tilt, can Phoenix come out on top in front of their camp day crowd?

And a light potential circle for a Sunday matinee: Dallas Wings at Indiana Fever. The 1 p.m. ET tip on ABC could be the first professional meeting of Wings rookie Paige Bueckers and Fever superstar Caitlin Clark, should Clark be available from her groin injury.

Yahoo Sports power rankings

1. Minnesota Lynx (17-2)
2. Seattle Storm (12-7)
3. Atlanta Dream (12-7)
4. Phoenix Mercury (13-6)
5. Golden State Valkyries (9-9)
6. New York Liberty (12-6)
7. Indiana Fever (9-9)
8. Dallas Wings (6-14)
9. Las Vegas Aces (9-9)
10. Washington Mystics (8-10)
11. Chicago Sky (5-12)
12. Los Angeles Sparks (6-13)
13. Connecticut Sun (2-16)