Caitlin Clark injury a huge footnote in Commissioner's Cup game against Dream

Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White said what no Fever fan wanted to hear on Monday ahead of the teams' key game against the Atlanta Dream: Caitlin Clark would not be suiting up for the contest, as she's only just getting ramped back up to full contact practices.

Clark could be missing this game and potentially the Fever's next one after that against the New York Liberty, another game with huge implications regarding their Commissioner's Cup standings. Right now, the Fever are 2-0 in the Cup, but the Liberty have them beat in point differential because of their recent rout of the Connecticut Sun in Cup action.

The Dream, who are also in the Eastern Conference of the WNBA, are another major opponent for the Fever to try and tackle in these standings. Atlanta is 0-1 on the year in Cup games, but they're getting healthier with Jordin Canada's return and as they see a surge in scoring from rookie Te-Hina Paopao off the bench.

Additionally, they have major fire power in Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray, the latter of which was just named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

In short, Indiana is going to have their hands full this week trying to stay atop the Cup standings before their Liberty matchup.

Dream game to offer huge challenge for Indiana

The Fever haven't played any above .500 teams since Clark went down with her quad injury after their loss to the Liberty. Indiana has only faced the Washington Mystics, Connecticut Sun, and Chicago Sky since losing Clark, and now they're going to get the Dream and the undefeated Liberty in back to back contests this coming week.

This will be a huge test for Lexie Hull, Aliyah Boston, Sydney Colson, and hardship signee Aari McDonald, as all four have been the most impressive for the Fever in Clark's absence.

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Atlanta poses a threat to Indiana's perimeter defense with their three point shooting hunting (30.3 three point attempts per game) and with their sound rebounding that has them averaging 13.4 second chance points per game - second to the Fever.

If Boston is able to meet the moment against bigs in Brittney Griner and Bri Jones, and if Hull can match Atlanta's three point shooting with aggression on her part from deep, then we should see an easy path to victory for Indiana. If the Dream are able to contain both these players, it'll be a hard road to a win for the Fever in a key Cup game.