With the competition flaring up during the ongoing Semi-Finals series between the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces, it wasn’t that surprising to expect shade to be thrown at each other by the players. Aliyah Boston proved that during halftime of Game 4, as she looked to address A’ja Wilson directly by saying, “Hey, Holly, we’re professionals. People are going to score the basketball. So, for me, like I said, just make sure she feels my presence. And if she hits a tough two, she hits a tough two.” Wilson certainly felt the Indiana Fever star’s presence up to a point that she had to respond to another remark given out by the latter during the matchup.

During the post-game presser, A’ja Wilson highlighted the importance of doing your work early and making a difference accordingly. After that, she revealed, “But Aliyah did say I have a special whistle. She shot 13 today. She said I have a special whistle, which is cool”.

A’ja Wilson tends to go to the line more often than her peers. In fact, the 248-290 free throws she accumulated during this recent regular season was the highest amongst her teammates. The player occupying the 2nd place, Jackie Young, accumulated only 127-142 free throws. The 2025 WNBA MVP continues leading the team even during the playoffs, after having accumulated 35-48 free throws. In comparison, Aliyah Boston has shot only 16-23 free throws, till now, in the ongoing playoffs.

According to a report by Yahoo! Sports’ Cassandra Negley, the Aces took to pointing out the foul disparity after they lost Game 4 by an 83-90 score. While A’ja Wilson and co shot only 11, the Indiana Fever squad shot 34, with Aliyah Boston getting to shoot more than the Aces squad with her 13. When addressing the same, Wilson added, “That’s very interesting to me. I’m not saying we don’t foul. Yeah, we foul here and there. But that’s … very interesting.”

Tensions are already high about concerns regarding the officiating from referees after Cheryl Reeve’s recent incident following her star player, Napheesa Collier, getting injured in Game 3 of the Lynx-Mercury Semi-Finals series. Therefore, when it came to shade, Wilson wasn’t willing to hold back this time around.

Whether the Indiana Fever exploited getting more free throws purposefully or not, they have now won another game and took the Fever-Aces series to Game 5. For Aliyah Boston, now is certainly not the time to go lower in terms of their prowess.

Aliyah Boston Sends a Message To the Indiana Fever To Only Improve Upon Recent Performance

The Indiana Fever’s squad performance was far from ideal. The team did win by a 7-point margin and led in 3 of the 4 quarters. At the same time, however, both their field goal percentage of 44.8% (30-67) and 3-point percentage of 26.7%  (4-15) were lower than that of the Aces. In fact, the Indiana Fever would have been the eliminated team today had it not been for the 34 free throws they shot, out of which 26 went in successfully. Therefore, with about 48 hours remaining until Game 5, which could make or break the Indiana Fever’s championship hopes, Aliyah Boston gave an ultimatum to her teammates.

During the post-game presser, Boston was asked by Holly Rowe of ESPN what it will take for them to beat the Aces in Game 5. She highlighted that “This and more. I mean just looking at the end of the game, we can’t really have that, especially against a team that has experience in winning championships.”

Aliyah Boston delivered her best performance of the ongoing playoffs in Game 4. She recorded 24 points, along with 14 rebounds and 5 assists, by shooting 7-15 (46.7%) field goals, 0-0 (0%) 3-pointers, and, as mentioned earlier, 10-13 (76.9%) free throws. However, with the exception of her, Kelsey Mitchell, and Odyssey Sims, no other Fever player scored in the double digits. Additionally, the Fever squad, as a whole, recorded 14 turnovers. Even though the Aces recorded 15 turnovers, that is still a concern that needs to be looked at.

“So for us, just going back, looking at the film, seeing what we can clean up. But honestly, also being proud of ourselves that we earned ourselves another game,” Boston added.

After Game 4, A’ja Wilson and co will be looking to give fewer chances to the Fever squad to draw fouls. Whether they succeed in doing so is something that remains to be seen.