WNBA teams start Commissioner's Cup play this week with new in-season tourney format

The WNBA annual Commissioner's Cup gets underway this week using a new format for the in-season tournament.

The league tweaked the format this year and teams now will play five games against conference opponents over a two-week period. In the past, teams would play a home and home set against each team in their conference.

The championship game will be played on June 25 at the home of the team with the best overall record in the tournament.

New York beat Las Vegas for the in-season tourney title last season. Both those teams have a difficult road in front of them to get back to the championship game as they have to play the five games in a span of eight days. Washington also has to its five in-season tournament games during the same time span.