Aliyah Boston gets better with each passing season while with the Indiana Fever. The center, who is in her third year in the league and with the team, continues to become a better scorer and leader for the Fever while maintaining her usual defensive prowess.
One key area that she's been flourishing in is from the paint. Someone of her height playing the most important position in the WNBA - the post - has to be an efficient scorer. She's taken that to new heights this season, not only knocking her shots down from there at a career-best 59.7 percent from the field, but leading the league in paint scoring with 12.4 paint points per game.
Her only competition in that regard is none other than her matchup for Tuesday night's Commissioner's Cup final: Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier. The current frontrunner for MVP is scoring 11.7 points in the paint per game, right on Boston's heels as she recovers slowly but surely from a lingering back issue that plagued her earlier in the year.
It'll be fun to see these two post player powerhouses go at one another during the championship game in Minnesota. While Collier has the height advantage on Boston, it's been difficult for pretty much anyone to shut Boston's water off completely in the paint.
Boston set to keep streak alive against Collier
Boston has been getting her looks at the basket by using brute force. It has led to some foul annoyances for Boston, as it's hard to sell as much contact as she seeks to get in the paint without risking an offensive foul or a no-call by the referees. That hasn't stopped her from looking to bother her opponents as much as possible in the post, which will be key in this game.
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With some uncertainty surrounding Caitlin Clark's availability for the Tuesday night game, Boston is going to have to keep up her scoring and rebounding prowess in order to help try and secure a win against the league's best team.
She won't be alone - Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull, and Natasha Howard have all been cooking lately, and the insertion of Aari McDonald into the starting lineup against the Dallas Wings and their talented backcourt paid off handsomely.
A win isn't going to make or break Indiana's season at this point in time, but a Cup final victory amidst such a strange start to the year could inspire a run from the Fever. That's what makes Boston's play so important.