The Queen is back. So is the chase. Caitlin Clark returned from injury on Saturday, and with it, the Indiana Fever reignited its Commissioner’s Cup hopes with a searing 102-88 win over the New York Liberty. But while Clark’s return made headlines, smokes of a recent controversy involving Brittney Griner quickly followed it. And now, with the Commissioner’s Cup stakes heating up, the drama isn’t just off-court. It’s dictating Indiana’s entire trajectory.

As it stands, the Eastern Conference’s Commissioner’s Cup puzzle has three pieces: Atlanta, Indiana, and New York, and all three are locked at 3-1 in Cup play. But only one can go through to the final. The math is simple, but the outcomes aren’t. If Indiana wins and Atlanta loses to New York, the Fever clinch. If Atlanta beats New York, they go through. If Indiana loses and New York wins, Liberty advances. And with Connecticut holding just one Cup win in four, Tuesday’s Indiana-Connecticut game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse favors the Fever.

Now, talking about the off-court drama, well, things are developing there as well. We all know how Griner has a history of throwing elbows at Fever’s Aliyah Boston and even setting hard screens for Clark. However, the elbows thrown around the game come second after what happened on May 23. 

During a tense game between the Dream and Fever, Griner fouled out after delivering a hard shot that left fans lip-reading what she may or may not have said to Caitlin Clark. The internet exploded. Some accused her of using a racial slur. But, now, Griner denied it.

“I remember fouling out, being mad,” she told Outkick. “I really can’t remember what I said, honestly.” When asked if she might have said “f—— white girl,” Griner responded, “I know it wasn’t that because I wouldn’t use that type of language.”

Anyway, the attention quickly shifts to the Commissioner’s Cup again. As Fever cannot take any game lightly.

Caitlin Clark can win the Fever a spot in the Cup if New York helps.

Indiana is 3-1 in Cup play. Atlanta is 3-1, too. But Atlanta holds the biggest point differential at +62, compared to Indiana’s +31. New York? They’re at +61. So the Fever aren’t just playing to win against the Sun. They’re praying for the Dream to fall. That’s why Tuesday’s Dream vs. Liberty game matters more than anything Indiana can control.

But if we focus on the controllable, head coach Stephanie White knows the stakes, especially with Connecticut, despite its 2–8 record. ESPN gave the Sun just an 18% chance of beating the Fever, but White knows they can’t take Connecticut lightly, especially after the early-season loss they suffered to them.

“It’s an important game for us, as every game is. We didn’t play our best the last time that these two teams met,” she said after practice on Monday. “We feel like we are a better team now. They are a better team, too.”

The Fever have grown, and the upcoming stretch of six games in 10 days with limited practice time has forced them to sharpen even more. White’s mantra? Stay focused. “Make sure we continue to grow and stack days and be better tomorrow than we were on Saturday,” she added.

And it’s true: they’ve figured out how to play without Caitlin Clark. Where once Clark was a crutch, now she’s a weapon, an addition, not the foundation. That shift is what helped bring down New York in Saturday’s showdown.

But above all, it’s the veterans like Sydney Colson, who’ve become the steadying voices in the locker room. “They are making sure that we stay locked in and intentional in everything that we do,” said White. Colson echoed it: “We are still building, trying to get ourselves right. It’s a cool opportunity to be playing for the Cup, but it’s honestly just another game where we need to do things that we need to do.”

However, doing the things they need to do doesn’t mean they end up where they want to be. If Clark and the Fever get into foul trouble early, it gives Connecticut a real shot.