Unrivaled: Can Phantom spook undefeated Lunar Owls?

rewrite this content and keep HTML tags

The bracket for the Unrivaled 1-on-1 tournament is set, with the First Round beginning on Monday, Feb. 10. The Second Round and Quarterfinals will be played on Tuesday, Feb. 11, before the Semi-Finals and Finals on Friday, Feb. 14.

That’s when Unrivaled will Crown the One, who will win $200,000 for herself and $10,000 for her teammates. The runner-up will receive $50,000, while the other two semi-finalists will earn $25,000.

The No. 1 seeds in the bracket, as voted on by fans, are Jewell Loyd, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and Arike Ogunbowale, with Loyd and Ogunbowale receiving First Round byes. Check out the rest of bracket:

The bracket for the 1 on 1 Tournament presented by @Sprite is HERE

The First Round starts in less than a week on February 10th from 2-4 pm on truTV and 7-9 pm on TNT and truTV.

The Second Round and Quarterfinals are the next day on February 11th from 7-10 PM on truTV.

Then… pic.twitter.com/aFVt2QNqbZ

— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) February 5, 2025

But first, we’ve got more 3×3 games. On Friday night, Lunar Owls look for a 7-0 start against Phantom (7:15 p.m. ET, TNT). Then, Mist aim for a third-straight win against Rose (8:15 p.m. ET, TNT).

Can Phantom spook Lunar Owls?

In Swish Appeal’s second edition of Unrivaled power rankings, Josh Felton complimented Phantom’s offensive process, emphasizing how they play with an intentionality tailored to the personnel on the court. Most especially, that involves calibrating the strengths and weaknesses of Brittney Griner. At their best, Phantom exploit Griner’s ability as a unguardable low-post presence, while mitigating the opponent’s ability to exploit her lack of mobility of the defensive end.

Lunar Owls, however, have played in manner that suggests they can, and will, manipulate the Griner matchup in their favor.

Last time these two clubs met, it wasn’t a fair fight, as Phantom, without Sabrina Ionescu and Marina Mabrey, were lapped by Lunar Owls, 82-58. And it looks like the Ghost Gang will be in the same situation on Friday night. Ionescu is off in New Orleans for Super Bowl-related festivities, while Mabrey still has yet to make her Unrivaled debut. Without Ionescu, Phantom cannot go to their best lineup of Ionescu, Satou Sabally and Natasha Cloud, which had a chance of keeping up with the high-flying Owls. Instead, expect Lunar Owls’ guard trio of Skylar Diggins-Smith, Allisha Gray and Courtney Williams to zip around in ways that frustrate Phantom, all while Napheesa Collier continues her impeccable MVP-caliber play. She dropped a 37-point and 18-rebound double-double when Owls beat Phantom in their first meeting.

Does Mist finally have momentum?

With two-straight wins, it’s easy to say Mist might finally be meeting expectations. Yet, their last victory was quite shaky, with Phantom erasing a 19-point deficit before a technical free throw allowed Mist to reach the winning score and win by three points.

That game illustrated the peril of depending on jump shooting. In the first half, Jewell Loyd and Rickea Jackson were splashing in wet jumpers. But when they went dry in the second half, Mist once again became overly reliant on Breanna Stewart to do everything. Too often, Mist devolve into stagnancy in the offensive halfcourt, with a lack of ball movement preventing an optimization players’ offensive talents. Yet, Stewie, in particular, is still talented enough to make up for all these issues.

And that might be enough against a Rose club that, like Mist, is still less than the sum of its parts. In their previous meeting, Rose bested Mist 71-66 behind a clutch-time masterclass from Chelsea Gray. Last game, great play from Gray pushed Rose past the depleted Laces. Yet, when the Point Gawd has not been on point, Rose has struggled to generate offense and, in tun, taken losses. More opportunity for Lexie Hull, who was huge when Rose beat Mist, seems like a solution for Rose. Finding the ideal third piece for the Angel Reese-Azurá Stevens double-big lineup also could allow Rose to overwhelm a smaller, more finesse Mist side with physicality and athleticism.