The inbounds pass went to Aliyah Boston on the right block with 2:37 left in the third quarter. Kiki Iriafen, who finished with a career-high 25 points and 13 rebounds, defended her while Shakira Austin (19 points, nine rebounds, five assists) slid over for a double-team.
Boston dribbled once, pivoted away from the defense, then tossed the ball to Myisha Hines-Allen at the top of the arc for a 3-point attempt.
It’s unclear whether Boston and Iriafen went knee-to-knee — each wearing a sleeve on her right leg — but both players appeared to hobble after the brief interaction.
Boston exited at the next stoppage, headed back to the locker room and was not seen again. Minutes later, she was officially ruled out with a lower leg injury — the same designation used for an injury she suffered months ago during the final week of Unrivaled.
Before the season, general manager Amber Cox said “Aliyah’s doing great. Ready to go.”
Boston did not play in the first two preseason games and has been on a minutes restriction of 25 to 30 minutes; she played 21 minutes on Friday.
The Indiana Fever lost 104-102 to the Washington Mystics in overtime — and the extent of Boston’s injury is unknown. No update was provided postgame, but Boston has been a steady force inside for the franchise over the past three seasons.
She’s a three-time All-Star and had never missed a game in her career: 127 games played, 127 starts.
(Note: This is where we could really use locker rooms open like they were years ago. What was going on? Was she icing? Completely fine? Wearing a concerned look on her face?)
The Fever mounted a comeback without her, but the margin for error disappeared without one of their foundational pieces. It required a Caitlin Clark breakthrough — scoring 17 of her game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter, including a game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation to force overtime.
