Lynx star Seimone Augustus was on the Target Center floor today with her teammates for the morning shoot-around to prepare for tonight's game with Atlanta.

Unfortunately, she was wearing a boot to protect her sore left ankle and was unable to do anything but take a few half-court shot attempts with her teammates, in fun, after the walk-through was over. She will not play tonight.

Augustus sprained her ankle in the second quarter of Sunday's victory over Phoenix at Target Center.

"Initially it hurt, a lot, but once I got to the back it kind of calmed down," she said. "Right now it feels a lot better. But it's still really sore, black and blue."

There hasn't been a lot of swelling, Augustus said, which is good news. But neither she nor the team are planning on rushing her back. And that means she could miss the team's three games this week. After tonight's game with the Dream the Lynx play at Indiana on Thursday and at Tulsa Saturday. After that game the team has five days off before playing at San Antonio July 19.

"We'll just see how my body heals and how everything looks," Augustus said. "Doctor said if I can run without a limp in the next few days he would approve (a return to action). But we have a great team here. There is no need to push things."

And that means Augustus will have to watch from the bench. "I'll be right there, hyping my teammates up, getting 'em ready for the game, doing what's necessary for us to get this win," she said.

What is most painful, Augustus said, is not being able to play in tonight's nationally-televised game between teams with the top two records in the WNBA.

Not having Augustus will make things much more difficult for the Lynx, who will be facing the league's best defensive team. The Dream don't trap a whole lot, instead using quickness and length to get into passing lanes and get deflections.

So keeping control of the ball and executing the offense is key. And that puts a lot of pressure on point guard Lindsay Whalen and on Monica Wright, who will move into the starting lineup.

That's about it for now, I'll get back to you after the game. Remember, it starts at 8 p.m.