The Fever have done something not many teams can accomplish: getting two “bad” games out of A’ja Wilson. In Game 3, she recorded the fewest points of her 2025 playoff run, finishing the game with 13 points on 30% shooting, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks. The Aces still won the game and have the chance to close out the series and punch a ticket to the finals in Game 4.
The Fever have the chance to force a Game 5, but A’ja Wilson will make that very difficult. Wilson rarely ever has two bad shooting games in a row and a big night from Wilson will be difficult to keep up with for the Fever.
A’ja Wilson usually bounces back quickly
The Fever already had first-row seats to one of A’ja Wilson’s bounce-backs. She only shot 27.3% from the field in Game 1 of the semifinals. In Game 2, she recorded 25 points on over 50% shooting and helped the Aces even out the series with a 90-63 win. That trend is far from new.
In the past three seasons (2025, 2024, and 2023), Wilson only had two bad shooting games in a row twice. In 2023, she shot only 33.3% in an 89-82 win over the Dallas Wings and followed it up with a 5-13 performance in the next game. After that, she went 6-8 in a blowout win over the Lynx. This year, Wilson shot only 36.4% from the field in the Aces’ 53-point loss to the Lynx. In the next game, she shot 35.3 percent from the field, but followed that performance up with a 27-point game on over 70% shooting.
Other than that, Wilson always followed up a bad shooting performance with a strong bounce-back. Most notably, Wilson followed up a 4-16 performance against the Liberty in Game 3 of the 2023 Finals with 24 points on 52.4%. The Aces won the championship in that game.
The Fever will need a big game from Aliyah Boston
Aliyah Boston has fared better against A’ja Wilson than most bigs in the WNBA. Given that success, the Fever will need a big game from Boston on both ends of the floor to extend the series.
Boston has been the Fever’s third-leading scorer during the playoffs, trailing only Kelsey Mitchell and Odyssey Sims. She has struggled with inefficiency, though. Boston is usually one of the most efficient scorers in the league, but shot below 50% from the field in Games 1 and 3.