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Unrivaled got its second season off to a fast start with four games yesterday, but it’s easiest to think of those games as part of “week zero,” a phrase which is familiar to any college football fans out there. The 3-on-3 action will shift to a Friday-through-Monday weekly schedule at the end of this calendar week, with each team playing twice in that span. As such, Tuesdays seem like a great time to take stock of what we’ve just seen and look at what’s to come in the week ahead. On we go!

Opening day result: won 80-60 vs. Lunar Owls

Games this week: Fri. vs. Vinyl, Sun. vs. Hive

Chelsea Gray looked like someone reminded her that I picked Rose to finish last in 2025, scoring 35 points in an opening blowout of the shorthanded Lunar Owls. The future Hall of Famer picked up right where she left off while winning the Unrivaled/WNBA double in 2025, pushing her Unrivaled record to 11 career 20-point games (including playoffs). The champs looked much more like the team that went 9-2 in February and March than the one that was 1-4 in January. Up next is a championship game rematch with Vinyl coming up on Friday, which brings back three players from last year’s team (Rae Burrell, Dearica Hamby and Rhyne Howard). Rose’s top scorer in the title game (Brittney Sykes) is no longer with the team and Gray (18 points) scored fewer than 20 points for one of only two times in 10 Unrivaled games since the February 1-on-1 tournament. I’m not sure those things mean very much, but if nothing else, it’s good context for the huge games the Point Gawd generally has in Miami.

Opening day result: won 72-56 vs. Hive

Games this week: Sat. vs. Laces, Mon. vs. Lunar Owls

I want to preface my next take by reiterating that Rose is excellent and I am not doubting Rose or picking anyone to finish last, having learned from 2025. I am, however, offering one overreaction to yesterday’s games, and that is that Mist is going to win the 2026 Unrivaled championship. I have something resembling a conspiracy theory about this, namely that Breanna Stewart was annoyed that she had one of the league’s worst teams in 2025 while co-founder Napheesa Collier had the best with Lunar Owls. As a result, I believe Stewie made sure her 2026 squad was an absolute unit. The trio of Veronica Valkyrie Burton, Allisha Gray and Alanna Smith could be the best in the league with Collier injured and I don’t even have Stewie on the floor. I’ll happily echo the chorus of people on the Unrivaled broadcast saying Gray looks primed for a run at MVP. I’ll also throw in that Smith could well add Unrivaled Defensive Player of the Year to her shared WNBA honor. Stewart looked the most like herself that I’ve seen since the 2024 WNBA Finals and Veronica Valkyrie looked just as comfortable in Sephora Arena as Ballhalla. It’s getting Misty in here.

Opening day result: won 69-62 vs. Phantom

Games this week: Fri. vs. Hive, Sun. vs. Rose

Breeze Fanfic BC was every bit the internet hoops sicko’s dream come true that it looked like on paper in yesterday’s last and most exciting game against a revamped Phantom. Paige Bueckers led the young squad with 24 points and six assists while adding five rebounds in her Unrivaled debut. She was only the fourth player with at least 24 points and six dimes in an Unrivaled game, joining Gray (four times including yesterday), Skylar Diggins and Sabrina Ionescu (once each last regular season). Bueckers’ new teammate Dominique Malonga — a ridiculous phrase I just made up — had 15 points and 14 rebounds in her own Unrivaled debut. She joins Angel Reese (four times last season), Collier (three), Hamby (twice), Stevens and Stewart (once each) as the sixth player with 15/14 in an Unrivaled game. Sorry, this was supposed to be my first post on AO3.

Opening day result: won 58-42 vs. Vinyl

Games this week: Sat. vs. Mist, Mon. vs. Lunar Owls

Laces got out to a sluggish start in the opening win, trailing Vinyl for most of the first three quarters before closing the third with a 12-2 run and shutting them out in the final frame for a combined 24-2 sprint to the finish line. WNBA MVP finalist Alyssa Thomas didn’t score in the first three quarters and played the fewest minutes on the team according to the Unrivaled website’s box score. The minutes in those were sometimes sketchy last season, but there’s always some reason to worry about the health of Thomas’ shoulders, particularly with only three months since a grueling WNBA season. New addition Brittney Sykes led the way with 19 points, giving her 40 in her last two Unrivaled games dating to the title game with Rose.