On the back of Aliyah Boston in the second half, the Fever forced a Game 5 against the Aces on Sunday.
INDIANAPOLIS — There’s a certain familiarity the Fever have found this season when on the brink of elimination.
Dating back to the end of the regular season, Indiana has been fighting for its life. First, it was to make the playoffs while battling a slew of other teams down the stretch. Then, it was against the Dream when they played, and won, consecutive elimination games in the first round.
On Sunday, it was against the Aces, who put the Fever’s backs against the wall with a Game 3 win on Friday to go up 2-1 in the best-of-five series.
In that familiar position, Aliyah Boston found comfort.
The young center put together arguably the best game of her blossoming career with 24 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks as the Fever staved off elimination one more time with a 90-83 win, forcing a do-or-die Game 5 in the process.
“Just trying to be aggressive, post up, seal, focus and finish and get to the free throw line,” Boston said of her mindset coming into the game. “We’ve watched a lot of film, but I think for me, just working on my positioning, trying to get earlier seals and so that was the focus for me tonight and I was able to do that.”
Boston became just the fourth player to have the 24-14-5 stat line in a playoff game, and of those, only Fever Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings matched the steals and blocks aspect as well. She also did it while going toe-to-toe — and, at times, shot-for-shot — with MVP A’ja Wilson, who had 31 points and nine rebounds as well.
In short, it was dominant.
Indiana needed every bit of it. On Friday, the Aces held Indiana to just 35.6% shooting from the field and limited Boston to 12 points on 16 shots. But the Fever came out aggressive while connecting on shots they missed in Game 3, allowing them to play from ahead for most of the contest.
“I thought we moved the ball a lot better today,” Boston said. “Everyone got to do it. Everyone got to take their great shots and I think the thing about us is that we trust everyone to take their shot and take a shot with confidence and trust that it’s gonna go in and I think everyone really showed that. I mean, everyone took their shots and knocked them down.”
Boston wasn’t alone in having a big game as Kelsey Mitchell, who shot 8-26 in Game 3, bounced back with 25 points on Sunday. Odyssey Sims, who was scoreless in Friday’s loss, had 19 points as well.
But it was Boston who stepped up most in the second half. As Wilson started to take over in an attempt to finish out the series, Boston matched her basket for basket. Wilson’s 19 second-half points only barely outpaced Boston’s 17.
Her performance allowed the Fever to remain ahead for much of the final two quarters before pulling away late. Boston’s turnaround jumper with 2:38 left gave Indiana a five-point lead before Mitchell hit the shot of the season, connecting on a floater with a foul to make it a seven-point lead with a minute remaining.
The Fever got the stops they needed down the stretch and iced the game away at the free throw line, allowing them to move to one game away from the WNBA Finals.
“We knew today was a must-win,” Sims said. “Our backs was against the wall, so we had to come out with a little bit more fire than we did on [Friday], not play relaxed and especially not let them get on big runs…and we were able to come out with the win today.”
As the Fever have gone through trial and tribulation this season, particularly in the second half of the year, Boston, along with Mitchell, has been one of the mainstays. While Mitchell has been the one to do the scoring for most of those games, Boston has been the fulcrum for Indiana.
Figuratively and literally, she’s been at the center of what the Fever have done. Both have played every game this season for Indiana. They are the top two in minutes and points. Boston, though, leads the team in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
The pieces around her have changed throughout the season, but Boston has been as important as anyone to the Fever being able to not only stay afloat this season, but find success.
“We over me, that’s been our identity the entire season,” Boston said. “We all got, we all we need. And we’ve stuck with it. I think the beauty of this squad, whether you’re hurt or you’re or not, like everything that you do is for the betterment of this team for every win and that’s really how we approach every single day in practice, how we approach film, how we approach every game.”
On Sunday, there was no one important for the Fever when it mattered. She carried them to the finish line and to the brink of the Finals.
Now, for the fourth time this postseason, the Fever will head into a game where a loss ends their season. All four times have been on the road, too, with Tuesday’s Game 5 in Las Vegas.
It’s a pressure-packed, high-stakes environment with everything on the line. For the Fever and Boston, there’s one more adjective they’d use as well.
Familiar.
Category: General Sports
