The Indiana Fever are one game away from the WNBA Finals. They were not supposed to get nearly this far, not with Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and several other key players watching from the sidelines and posting ill-advised AI art on Instagram. But the Fever won their first-round series on the road, and have pushed four-time MVP A'ja Wilson and the Aces to a Game 5 tonight. The obvious question is how, and while part of that answer can be credited to Kelsey Mitchell becoming James Harden, the Fever's successful run has as much to do with their physical brand of hoops. In other words, it has to do with Aliyah Boston.
The Fever's center has been remarkably consistent since she was drafted first overall in 2023. That's mostly a compliment, as her career averages of 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game have earned her an All-Star spot in each of her three seasons. But the pessimist might watch Boston play for a few games and see a big who is great at everything but not necessarily the best at anything. She doesn't have the range of Jonquel Jones or A'ja Wilson, the handles of someone like Napheesa Collier, nor the dominant rim protection of Ezi Magbegor or Brittney Griner. Every top-tier WNBA team of the past few years has relied on a multifunctional big. As great as Boston is at the meat-and-potatoes aspects, like grabbing rebounds and finishing at the rack, it would have been fair to be mildly skeptical of her as a championship-level anchor.
Not anymore. Through a hard-fought first-round series against the Atlanta Dream and an even tougher semifinals against Vegas, Boston has been fantastic on both ends. The Dream's strength is their size, yet Boston dominated Brionna Jones, who had nearly as many fouls (12) as rebounds (14) in the three-game series. Boston has not exerted the same sort of statistical dominance over Wilson in the semis—it's rare that anyone does—but she has more than held her own against the MVP. Boston has made Wilson's life frustrating, epitomized by Wilson tossing her fellow South Carolina Gamecock to the floor in Game 3 and staring her down. I'd be frustrated, too: Boston has routinely bullied her in the post and shoved her off the block for rebounds. "Aliyah did say I had a special whistle," an irritated Wilson said after the Aces' Game 4 loss. "And she shot 13 [free throws] today."
In Wilson's annoyance, you can see what makes Boston special. It's her physicality, in the sense that she applies her gifts with rare precision for a 6-foot-5, 220-pound player. Defenses can't overplay her because she's such a good passer out of the top of the key as well as from more crowded areas, and here you can see the vision of the Clark-Boston pairing. It's a basically perfect theoretical pick-and-roll combo. Opponents like Wilson, Collier, and Griner are always getting mad at Boston because she's always getting into their space and beating the crap out of them. That would be stressful to deal with if that were the extent of Boston's skillset, but she's also smart and patient on and off the ball.
To that end: She was spectacular in Game 4 on Sunday. In the Fever's 90-83 win, she finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks. One play in the second quarter really stood out (0:57 in the highlight reel below): Boston set a stiff screen to peel Jackie Young away from Odyssey Sims, then once she got the switch, immediately shoved Young and called for the ball. She got it, only for the Aces' help defense to notice and contain the threat. Some players would try to pound through, some would take a few dribbles to realize the shape of their predicament, and some would simply not recognize the shifting defense and be swallowed up. Boston quickly diagnosed the coverage, realized that there was no way for Wilson to hard-commit to her, and passed it back out. As the Aces defense took a collective breath, she scrunched up Young into a little ball and got an easy layup.
This play is a simple one, but it's not easy. That's what Boston does, and that's generally what the Fever do. Their offense isn't as dazzling without Clark, although Mitchell and Sims have been great in the backcourt. Not having to accommodate Clark has helped Indiana's defense to great effect: The Fever are forcing turnovers at the highest rate of any of the eight playoff teams. Boston and, somehow, Lexie Hull have been holding it down on the glass, where the Fever have out-rebounded the Aces by 27 during the series. This should not be the basis for an Ewing Theory case against Clark as a transformative superstar, but it should be evidence that Boston is good enough to lead a team deep into the playoffs. If you're great enough at everything consistently, and at a high enough level, that might actually count as being the best at something.
