Even before Game 4 tipped off, it felt like a contest of who could take the fiercest aim at the referees, Becky Hammon or Stephanie White. After both coaches supported Cheryl Reeve in her 2-minute antireferee rant, something similar was expected from at least one of them. After a lopsided freethrowing numbers (11 to Aces, 34 to Fever), Hammon didn’t crash out. She bluntly pointed out the foul disparity that went against the Aces.“They shot 34 free throws, we shot 11,” Hammon said flatly after the game. “That’s the game.”

The foul count backed Hammon, Jackie Young, NaLyssa Smith, and Chelsea Gray, all racked up 5 fouls. Megan Gustafson added 4 off the bench. Indiana capitalized, comprehensively winning Game 4 83-90 and forcing Game 5. However, according to Fever beat reporter Tony East, numbers don’t tell the entire story. 

“Can we respond to Becky for a second? Final discrepancy of free throws was 34 to 11. The Fever took 11 (12*)  free throws in the last 61 seconds of the game while you were playing. Keep making to extend the game like that, obviously influences things a lot, and a lot of the foul discrepancy in this game also came in that stretch light where they were over-fouling on purpose. It was 24-17 in the final.” East said on Indy Star’s Post Game Show.  (*correct number clarified by East later)

Apart from the final quarter, the foul count stands at 14-10 with Aces getting more whistles. On the free throws, the Fever were ahead 17-7 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the Aces were called for 10 fouls to the Fever’s 7 (free throws 17-4), with the Aces stopping the play almost every second as a last resort. Well-worn tactic or not, it warped the stripe count, and as East lay out, the stylistic clash did the heavy lifting behind those lopsided freebies.

“So it was like I believe at the time I was talking to somebody who was asking me about the official because I was at the game. It was 16-14. The Aces were ahead in fouls. Turns out, when you take more jumpers, which is fine, jumpers are good for you, you just get less free throws, like a lot of the foes on the Fever. Just weren’t generating foul shots,” East concluded. 

The Indiana Fever won the paint battle 42-38, but not only that, they were aggressive with Kelsey Mitchell and Odyssey Sims driving to the basket through multiple defenders. Aliyah Boston went head-to-head against A’ja Wilson and came out on top more times than not. The best representation of what East mentions can be seen in their heatmaps.

The three-ball wasn’t falling for the Fever, as they shot only 26.7% while the Aces had some outside shooting (39.1%) . 32.5% of Aces points came through three points as opposed to Fever’s 13.3%. Missed whistles cut both ways, but nothing rose above the background noise, no outlier swings compared to the usual playoff chaos. It was not only the Aces HC complaining about the referees, as A’ja Wilson had some concerns, too. 

Opinion: A’ja Wilson Free Throw Disparity Complaints On Aliyah Boston Are Ironic

While Aliyah Boston did not manage to lock up A’ja Wilson in Game 4, she thrived better on the offense. Boston finished the contest with 24 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists and said she prioritized posting up, finishing at the time while getting to the free-throw line in Game 4. Boston succeeded in her goal of drawing more fouls, as she had 13 free throws in this performance, something Wilson exclusively pointed out. 

When Wilson was asked why Aliyah Boston was so successful in Game 4, she said, “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Aliyah that question. Honestly, you just do your work, you gotta do your work early, and make it different. But Aliyah did say I have a special whistle, and she shot 13 today.”

“Yeah, she said it [in Game 3] that I have a special whistle, which is cool. We just gotta play better defense, make her looks a little difficult and go from there.” Wilson said.

Atleast I couldn’t find any interview where Aliyah Boston said Wilson had a special free throw, maybe she said it to her personally. Either way, A’ja Wilson has always been among the top free-throw shooters in the WNBA. In the 2025 regular season, Wilson shot 7.3 free throws per game, which is the most in the league. 26.5% of her points came from free throws. What about Aliyah Boston, you might ask? She shot 3.3 free throws per game (17.0% of her points), which is 25th in the league. 

Okay, what about the Playoffs? Wilson has shot 6.9 free throws per game, which is the second most. In the Seattle Storm series, where she averaged 29.3 points per game, she averaged 10.7 free throws per game, with 27.3% of points coming from them. Boston has averaged 3.3 per game in the playoffs, despite that 13 free throw game 4. So, it is ironic that after one game, the whistle doesn’t go your way, a snide comment follows (along with another controversial act). Not arguing whether she does or does not have a ‘special whistle’, but considering her past numbers, one game with limited free throws shouldn’t affect her.