INDIANAPOLIS — The clock was winding down as the Indiana Fever trailed the New York Liberty by three points. The play wasn’t for Aliyah Boston, yet as precious time ticked away, point guard Erica Wheeler kicked the ball out to Boston as a last resort. The rookie caught the ball on the left wing, took one dribble to evade former league MVP Jonquel Jones, reset her shot and let it fly from beyond the arc.
As the ball traveled through the air, it was as if all 6,123 fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse held their breath in unison, then they erupted in excitement when the ball went through the net. Boston couldn’t contain her emotions either, relinquishing her usually workmanlike approach for childlike jubilation that included placing two hands on her head in disbelief.
“I did hold my follow through,” Boston said through a grin in the postgame news conference.
“You sure did,” veteran forward Emma Cannon chimed in. “And I felt like we won a championship with the way we celebrated.”
But the Fever didn’t win a championship and they didn’t even win that mid-July game. After Boston scored a layup to cut the lead to one point in the extra frame, Indiana went scoreless as New York pulled away. It was the Fever’s eighth straight loss before the All-Star break and six of…
