As A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces prepare for Game 1 of their first-round matchup against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Sunday, Aces coach Becky Hammon has emphasized the importance of defending a Fever team that averaged a league-leading 96 points per game during the regular season.
Indiana will have a similar focus on the defensive end, particularly when it comes to containing Wilson as the Fever have been one of the few teams to consistently slow down the four-time MVP this season.
Wilson played in two of the teams’ three regular-season meetings after missing one matchup because of an injury, averaging 23 points in those two games, her second-lowest scoring average against any team this season, while shooting a season-low 39.6 percent from the field.
A large part of that challenge has come from Fever center Aliyah Boston, who has emerged as one of the more difficult individual matchups for Wilson across the WNBA.
Wilson had high praise for the 6-foot-5 St. Thomas native, recognizing the things that Boston has been effective at not just against the Aces but throughout her career to this point.
“Aliyah is someone that is going to play very physical,” Wilson said. “She knows how to operate her body very well and is probably one of the best bigs that can do so.
“It is very hard to get around the movements, but you gotta use your strength in different ways and understand it could look different in each possession. So for me, that’s what I am going to try and do, just get different looks always and don’t get settled into one thing.”
Hammon also acknowledged both the intensity and physicality that Boston plays with, as well as her development offensively, as one half of a “three-headed monster” the Aces will match up with to open the postseason alongside Clark and Kelsey Mitchell.
“She’s a banger,” Hammon said. “I think she is one of the true bigs in this league that enjoys physicality and wants the physicality, and in the playoffs it’s a tough matchup.”
However, at the same time, the Aces coach hopes the officiating will be on top of the battles between the two in and around the paint.
“Hopefully the officials don’t let all hell break loose,” Hammon said. “I’ll never understand ‘it’s the playoffs.’ What does that mean? Are we playing football now?
“Just ref the game how you’ve been reffing it all year. Keep the game clean because this should be the prettiest brand of basketball we ever put on the court right now, these top eight teams.”
Meanwhile, for Boston, regardless of who she is matching up against, her goal is to not give up easy looks at the basket and make her opponent feel uncomfortable shooting the basketball.
“I feel like defensively everyone that I am competing against my goal is to just make them hit tough shots,” Boston said. “When you look at A’ja she is a pro, right? She is an MVP for a reason.
“She hit tough shots, but my goal is to make her take a lot of those tough shots to score. So for me it is just making sure I’m focused, making sure I am playing clean and just be ready to play.”
The two franchises matched up for the first time in the playoffs last year, but the five-game series featured a different version of the Fever. Clark and Sophie Cunningham were not part of the series, while Mitchell exited Game 5 because of cramping and exhaustion.
Contact Donovan Hicks at dhicks@reviewjournal.com. Follow @HicksSports on X.
