Aliyah Boston to Play in Fever's Playoff Opener Against Aces

Indiana's All-Star center will take the floor Sunday in Las Vegas, but her minutes remain in question after a right lower leg issue surfaced Thursday.

Aliyah Boston is available for the Indiana Fever's postseason opener against Las Vegas on Sunday at 4 p.m., a first-round matchup in the WNBA Playoffs. How long she stays on the court is a separate question. "Aliyah's going to give it a go," Fever coach Stephanie White said. "We're just going to do like we always do when she has a little flare-up and make it a game-time decision and we'll adjust her minutes. She's played through this all year long, so she's going to give it a go."

The three-time All-Star center carried a questionable designation on the injury report issued Saturday because of a right lower leg issue. According to White, the problem surfaced during Thursday's regular-season finale against the Minnesota Lynx, a game Boston exited in the closing minutes of the second quarter and never re-entered.

Meeting with reporters Saturday, Boston said her body feels as if she has "played 40, 40-plus games this season," and that she is approaching things day by day. Her presence with the media ahead of practice suggested she took part in the session in some form.

The same leg already sidelined Boston for four contests earlier this year after she hurt it during Unrivaled. That layoff ended a 127-game durability run that covered every contest since she entered the WNBA, as well as a 275-game streak of appearances reaching into her college years at South Carolina.

Indiana's roster is thinner around her. Forward Damiris Dantas (left knee) and guard Tyasha Harris (left lower leg) are both sidelined through the remainder of the year. Guard Caitlin Clark, who carried a probable tag because of a back issue, is active.

Boston has produced at an All-Star level while managing the ailment, averaging 16.1 points, eight rebounds and 1.2 blocks. She is converting 52.8% from the field and a career-best 40.6% from 3-point range, a skill she spent her offseason developing.

Her head-to-head with four-time reigning MVP A'ja Wilson shapes up as a centerpiece of the best-of-three series. Across two meetings with the Fever this season, Wilson posted 23 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, but on 39.6% shooting — well beneath her season rate of 52.7% and her weakest figure against any opponent. The next-lowest split was 45% versus the New York Liberty.

White credited Boston for staying disciplined against shot fakes and forcing Wilson into difficult looks. "AB can play with a certain level of physicality and mobility, and her ability to make things as tough as possible has been effective. But A'ja is the best player in the world," White said. "Certainly, we always have our work cut out for us, but it's also a collective team effort to make sure that we have an awareness when she gets the ball."

The Fever and Aces open the series Sunday, September 27, at 4:00 PM EDT from Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. The game airs on ABC.