The Indiana Fever now have a chance to rewrite the ending of their 2025 WNBA season. After watching the Las Vegas Aces end their playoff run in the semifinals last year, Indiana will get another shot at the three-time champions in the first round of the 2026 playoffs. But one battle that could have a major say in how the series unfolds is Aliyah Boston against A’ja Wilson. And Boston has already shown that she is willing to embrace that challenge.
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The No. 6 seed, the Fever, will lock horns with the No. 3-seeded Aces in a best-of-three series, setting up another meeting between two teams that have already become very familiar with each other this season. With the first game less than 24 hours away, the Fever center has made her approach to defending Wilson very clear per an X post by Arion Armeniakos from The Sporting Tribune.
“I feel like, defensively, everyone that I’ve competed against, my goal is to just kind of make them hit tough shots,” Boston said during a recent practice media availability. “I feel like when you look at A’ja (Wilson), I mean, she’s a pro, right? She’s the MVP for a reason, so she hits tough shots. But my goal is to make her take a lot of tough shots to score. So for me, just making sure I’m focused, making sure I’m playing clean and just being ready in that angle.”
It is a simple approach, but Aliyah Boston knows better than most that Wilson is not someone you can expect to completely shut down. So the goal is to make every possession harder and force Wilson into uncomfortable looks to make her earn every point. And that strategy has already produced results this season.
The Fever and Aces have faced each other three times during the regular season, and Indiana won two of those games. Boston played a major role in that success, putting together one of her strongest individual stretches against Las Vegas.
Across the three games, Boston averaged a 19.3-point, 11.0-rebound double-double, giving Indiana a consistent presence in the paint every time these teams met.
The first matchup came without either Wilson or Caitlin Clark on the floor because of injuries, but Aliyah Boston still took advantage of the opportunity. She controlled the interior and finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, recording her sixth double-double of the season.
In the next meeting, Indiana won with a 34-point lead, and Boston contributed 19 points, 11 rebounds, and three steals while playing a major part in a defensive effort that restricted Las Vegas to just 39% shooting from the field.
Even in the only loss they recorded against the Aces in overtime, Boston put up 21 points, 12 rebounds, and three steals, while also making life difficult for Wilson. The Aces star finished that night 10-of-25 from the field, shooting just 40% from the floor.
But with that being said, there is also a new area of concern surrounding the upcoming matchup.
Aliyah Boston was listed as questionable with a right lower-leg issue on Indiana’s latest injury report, putting a cloud over her availability just as the most important stretch of the season begins. The concern is particularly notable because the same lower-leg issue has bothered Boston at different points this season.
Just recently, she was forced to leave Indiana’s regular-season finale against the Minnesota Lynx before halftime because of the most recent flare-up of her injury. Now, whether her latest designation is precautionary or something that could keep her off the floor, her availability will be something to watch closely. However, this isn’t a time when the Fever can afford to sit one of their key players out.
Unlike the longer playoff series that can give teams more room to recover from a bad night, Indiana and Las Vegas will have only three games to settle this matchup. The first team to win two games will advance deeper into the playoffs, while the team that falls short will see its season come to an end.
That leaves very little margin for error for the Fever. And against an Aces team led by Wilson, having Aliyah Boston available could mean more than simply having another scorer on the floor. It gives Indiana the player who has already spent an entire regular season learning how to make one of the league’s biggest stars work for her points.