Unrivaled’s second championship pairing will be determined with a couple of three-on-three thrillers in Brooklyn.
They may be “Unrivaled,” but only two will survive the cold on the trek back to South Beach.
The domestic three-on-three league co-founded by Breanna Stewart brought its work home with its originator, as the league’s second annual semifinals are underway at Barclays Center. Best-known for hosting Stewart’s most recent title with the New York Liberty—who downed a Minnesota Lynx group headlined by Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier—the arena on Atlantic Avenue is hosting an elite pair in the name of determining the most glorious trios.
In the opening matchup, top-ranked Phantom will look to stave off yet another upset bid penned by the artists of Vinyl. Though carrying the talents of Kelsey Plum, the Ghost Gang will be without newly-crowned Defensive Player of the Year Aliyah Boston after she left the regular season finale with an injury. Stewart will play to her metropolitan crowd in the late-nightcap, as she and the Mist will look to unleash a championship deluge against Paige Bueckers and her fellow young guns on Breeze.
Keep track of the action below …
[recap]
(1) Phantom 83, (6) Vinyl 75
Game one featured a case of Kelsey Plum putting Phantom over the top: despite adding Aliyah Boston to an expansive injury report, the Ghost Gang is on its way to the final after ending another Vinyl upset bid. Denied free throws on a furious drive in the end, Plum ended the game in a more traditional three-point fashion that inched one tally past the target score.
Despite Vinyl featuring the services of local heroine Teresa Weatherspoon, the Brooklyn crowd was firmly in the corner of Phantom reserve Natasha Cloud. With the one-year anniversary of her trade to the WNBA’s New York Liberty approaching, Cloud played the crowd up en route to 14 points off the bench while posting a game-best plus-14 in just over 15 minutes.
She was one of four ghosts in double-figures, accompanied by Plum, Tiffany Hayes, and Kiki Iriafen, who had a double-double for the second straight game to the tune of 17 points (including five in the untimed fourth) and 11 boards. Rounding out the Phantom’s spooky six were develop pool entrants Aziaha James (one assist, plus-five) and Makayla Timpson, who were each called upon to fill in for Boston and Evans.
Vinyl was thus denied a reprise of its unexpected role in the Unrivaled championship game. It certainly wasn’t for the lack of Dearica Hamby and Rae Burrell: Hamby (11-of-14) went blow-for-blow with Plum for a good part of the game before she was somewhat bottled up in the third, held to but six points as Phantom erased a lead that reached as high as nine. Burrell at least ended her Unrivaled tour on a double-double high note, scoring 12 while pulling in 10 and dishing out six.
| Team Leaders | ||
| Phantom | Vinyl | |
| Plum, 31 | Points | Hamby, 30 |
| Iriafen, 11 | Rebounds | Burrell, 10 |
| Plum, 5 | Assists | Burrell, 6 |
| Game-Winning Basket: Kelsey Plum | ||
(2) Mist 73, (5) Breeze 69
Breanna Stewart made sure that her one guaranteed foray onto Barclays Center hardwood was well worth the wait: the Unrivaled co-founder helped her Mist club overcome a 16-point deficit from the end of the first period to put up a comeback victory punctuated by a three-pointer from birthday girl Arike Ogunbowale.
| Team Leaders | ||
| Mist | Breeze | |
| Malonga, 18 | Points | Stewart, 23 |
| Malonga, 14 | Rebounds | Stewart, 8 |
| Bueckers, 5 | Assists | 2 tied, 5 |
| Game-Winning Basket: Arike Ogunbowale | ||
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
The post Unrivaled Semifinals in Brooklyn: Who Will Meet in the Championship? appeared first on Ballislife.com.