{"id":391699,"date":"2026-01-06T19:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/391699\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T19:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:53:08","slug":"tuesday-is-unrivaled-week-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/391699\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday is Unrivaled, Week 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Unrivaled got its second season off to a fast start with four games yesterday, but it\u2019s easiest to think of those games as part of \u201cweek zero,\u201d 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\u2019ve just seen and look at what\u2019s to come in the week ahead. On we go!<\/p>\n

Opening day result: won 80-60 vs. Lunar Owls<\/p>\n

Games this week: Fri. vs. Vinyl, Sun. vs. Hive<\/p>\n

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\u2019s team (Rae Burrell, Dearica Hamby and Rhyne Howard). Rose\u2019s 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\u2019m not sure those things mean very much, but if nothing else, it\u2019s good context for the huge games the Point Gawd generally has in Miami.<\/p>\n

Opening day result: won 72-56 vs. Hive<\/p>\n

Games this week: Sat. vs. Laces, Mon. vs. Lunar Owls<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019t even have Stewie on the floor. I\u2019ll happily echo the chorus of people on the Unrivaled broadcast saying Gray looks primed for a run at MVP. I\u2019ll 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\u2019ve seen since the 2024 WNBA Finals and Veronica Valkyrie looked just as comfortable in Sephora Arena as Ballhalla. It\u2019s getting Misty in here.<\/p>\n

Opening day result: won 69-62 vs. Phantom<\/p>\n

Games this week: Fri. vs. Hive, Sun. vs. Rose<\/p>\n

Breeze Fanfic BC was every bit the internet hoops sicko\u2019s dream come true that it looked like on paper in yesterday\u2019s 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\u2019 new teammate Dominique Malonga \u2014 a ridiculous phrase I just made up \u2014 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Opening day result: won 58-42 vs. Vinyl<\/p>\n

Games this week: Sat. vs. Mist, Mon. vs. Lunar Owls<\/p>\n

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\u2019t score in the first three quarters and played the fewest minutes on the team according to the Unrivaled website\u2019s box score<\/a>. The minutes in those were sometimes sketchy last season, but there\u2019s always some reason to worry about the health of Thomas\u2019 shoulders, particularly with only three months since<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n