Most of us remember our birthdays with a blur of balloons taped to the kitchen wall, paper plates stacked high with pizza, a cake glowing under too many candles, and a crowd of friends yelling the last “Happy Birthday to you!” just off-key. It’s the kind of snapshot that sticks forever. Sadly, that picture has been erased for Caitlin Clark and the Fever. Birthdays no longer mean cake and candles; they mean injury reports and caution. The days have turned into a tense anticipation of what will linger with them long after the candles are blown out.

Don’t believe us? Hear it from Sophie Cunningham. “Sydney has her birthday the next day we played she completely tore her ACL and everything. It was my birthday we played the next day and then I hurt my knee,” she said. And yep, that’s true. Cunningham’s birthday was August 16th, and her torn MCL came against the Sun on August 17th. For Sydney Colson: Birthday on August 6th, torn ACL the very next day against the Mercury.

Add in Keith Porter, the Fever development coach who went down on Natasha Howard’s birthday, and the curse suddenly doesn’t feel like a joke anymore. Even Sophie could see it coming: “And we still have a couple more birthdays on our team…do they play?” Almost like she knew the script. She knew Lexie Hull’s birthday was right around the corner, and she wasn’t wrong to be nervous. Because sure enough, the curse struck again as Indiana Fever center Damiris Dantas entered concussion protocol. She is now ruled out for Game 1, just a day after Hull’s 26th birthday, as Scott Agnes reported. She became the sixth Fever player to hit the injury list.

So maybe it’s time to circle September 20th in red ink. That’s Makayla Timpson’s birthday, when she turns 23. And if the Fever are wise, they’ll have her wrapped in bubble wrap, because they simply cannot afford to tempt this streak any further. Here’s what the injury report already looks like:

• Damiris Dantas (F): Out (concussion protocol, Sept. 14)
• Caitlin Clark (G): Out (groin, Sept. 5)
• Chloe Bibby (F): Out (knee, Sept. 4)
• Sophie Cunningham (G): Out (MCL, Aug. 20)
• Sydney Colson (G): Out (ACL, Aug. 9)
• Aari McDonald (G): Out (foot fracture, Aug. 9)

And with that patched-up roster, the Fever now head into their playoff opener against the Atlanta Dream at The Gateway Center Arena @ College Park. On paper, they split the regular-season series 2–2 with Atlanta, but both of Indiana’s wins came with Caitlin Clark in uniform. It was a luxury they don’t have anymore. The stakes are steep, and the history only adds fuel to it all. Here’s all the details-

Fever’s birthday curse meets playoff pressure

The Fever and Dream know each other well when it comes to postseason history. After all, these two franchises collided three straight years from 2011 to 2013. Atlanta had the upper hand twice, as they knocked Indiana out in the conference finals in both 2011 and 2013. But sandwiched in between was the Fever’s revenge in 2012. It was a first-round win over the Dream that jump-started their run to the franchise’s first WNBA title. That history hangs in the background, for right now, the Fever can’t afford another name on the injury sheet, especially not on a birthday.

Fast forward to 2025, and the stakes look completely different. The last time these two squads met in the postseason, Stephanie White was an assistant coach in Indiana. Now, she’s the one steering the ship as head coach. And preparation is the theme because they seem to be out of luck and Atlanta is no soft landing spot. The Dream went 30-14 this season, boasting the league’s second-best offense and defense. They got bettered only by the Minnesota Lynx on both ends. Seems like first-year head coach Karl Smesko has stamped his identity quickly by building a team around size, rebounding, and three-point shooting.

Kelsey Mitchell knows exactly what that means. “Tough players are going to have to make tough plays. It’s going to come down to personnel and knowing who you’re guarding,” she said of the challenge Atlanta presents. And that’s the reality. Both teams look very different since they last squared off in the regular season, and the margin for error is razor-thin. For Indiana, the mission is simple but daunting: find a way to punch through the adversity, silence the curse, and prove that even with half their roster sidelined, there’s still enough fight left to push back against Atlanta.