
The first weekend of Unrivaled is in the books, which drew 3 million viewers across TNT and truTV!
(Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Hang onto your seatbelt. There's plenty of Unrivaled action scheduled for the entire weekend. Whether you love basketball, women's hoops, or both— Unrivaled is a new professional women's 3v3 basketball league. Taking place in Miami, there are six teams comprised of 36 players. From Sabrina Ionescu to Angel Reese— the league includes the top players in the world. That consists of a mix of veterans and rookies.
Thanks to DraftKings Sportsbooks, Unrivaled is available to bet on in select states. Co-founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, this is a must-watch league! Now in its inaugural season, the 3-on-3 format features a fast-paced, full-court style of exciting basketball. While I already made my Unrivaled futures predictions, let's take a look at the DraftKings Unrivaled schedule and odds for Friday, January 24.
*As of January 24 at 4 p.m ET, Jewell Loyd and DiJonai Carrington have been ruled out for the Mist. Sabrina Ionescu and Marina Mabrey will not suit up for the Phantom, and Jackie Young remains out for the Laces. The Mist signed NaLyssa Smith to a relief contract.*
If you're interested in betting on women's basketball you're in the right place! With the Mist and Phantom set to tip-off at 7:15, the matchup will air on TNT. While the network will host both matchups, the Laces and Vinyl showdown will begin at 8:15 p.m. ET.
I've chosen to take my top picks and placed them as separate bets today. If you're tailing, you have the choice to play as straight plays, or parlay into one. Let's analyze my top best bets and picks for the Friday, January 23 Unrivaled games.
Are you looking to bet on Unrivaled and basketbal? Here at Ballislife Bets, we've gathered a complete list of the best sports betting offers here.
My first best bet for the Unrivaled matchups tonight, I am picking the Mist (0-2) to cover the -3.5 favorable spread for -115 odds vs the Phantom (0-2). While both teams are winless, I do believe there is a distinct difference in the teams.
Led by head coach Phil Handy, the Mist have some heavy hitters in former Storm teammates Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd. Don't sleep on this team, they have one of the best floor general's in Courtney Vandersloot. Of course, we can't forget the 2024 WNBA most improved player, DiJonai Carrington. Both in my opinion, are key speedy defensive specialists as well. Players that you know, will disrupt the rhythm of the opposing offense.
This team already has a ton of star power, and is backed by two former rookies, Rickea Jackson and Aaliyah Edwards. As we saw in the very first inaugural game, the Mist had control of the entire matchup vs the Lunar Owls up until the third quarter. Although defeated 84-80, which included giving up a 10 point lead, this is a team that will and can hang in with the Phantom tonight.
We saw the star power of Jewell Loyd, who scored 20 of her 34 points midway through the second quarter. From there, it was a collaborative team effort. Both Courtney Vandersloot and Dijonai Carrington are examples of players who hustle, and in this league you need hustlers. We saw the opening night the impact Jackson (15 points) and Edwards (10 points, 5 rebounds) had on the game.
Chalk it up to nerves, but the Mist had the opportunity to win that very first game. Although I will say, Stewart finished 2-11 from the field, and the Mist 44.8 % overall from the floor. In their second game, the offense was absolutely abysmal. While the Laces are arguably the top team in Unrivaled, The Mist shot just 31.6 % from the floor, and 13.3 from three. All things aside, the Mist got crushed 63-43.
Let's face it, is Courtney Vandersloot going to have a repeat 2-11 shooting performance? How about Carrington, going 1-10? With Rickea Jackson finishing 3-10, it was Loyd and Stewart last standing. Loyd, Stewart, and Vandersloot are former WNBA Champions, they know how to win. Although this team was horrific offensively, look at who the Laces have defensively. Although the Mist struggled to put points on the board, they held their own defensively.
In game two, the Laces were limited to under 40 percent from the field and three-point range, including Kayla McBride, who shot 9-22. That in itself tells me the Mist have what it takes to keep up defensively.
Although its the first time these two teams will face each other in history, the Phantom have struggled. By adding Natisha Heideman to the roster in the absence of Marina Mabrey, the Phantom get a nice speed boost from a guard. While this team is loaded with talent, there's yet to be one player aside Sabrina Ionescu to have a breakout game. Still recovering from off season thumb surgery, Ionescu has tallied 32 points through the first two games.
While game 2 was a nice improvement on the offensive end, it was personal fouls which killed the Phantom (16). While I initially thought Brittney Griner would have trouble with the pace, she showed improvement with that in the second matchup.
Yet to score over 69 points, I will keep the lack of scoring an issue for the Phantom. Averaging 58.5 points, they face a Mist team that's averaging just over 61 points per game. If Satou Sabally and Ionescu can nail down their old pick and roll habits from the Oregon days, this squad as the potential to be scary. However, I don't see the lineup meshing too well, combined with a slower pace of speed.
Overall, there's not overall difference in how these teams have performed. As mentioned earlier, I do believe the Mist have what it takes to be competitive, and have the star power to win the overall spread tonight.
My second best bet for today, I chose the Laces to win the moneyline outright vs the Vinyl.
In case you missed my last article, I predicted the Vinyl and the Laces to rise atop the Unrivaled standings. Loaded with talent, these two teams are filled with star studded athletes. There's no going around any of that.
Both 2-0 in the standings, we saw the Laces dominate their season debut 86-48 vs the Phantom. Kayla McBride, Alyssa Thomas, Tiffany Hayes, Stefanie Dolson, and Kate Martin. This team is very overpowered. And that doesn't include Jackie Young, who's yet to make her debut. If Young is available to lace up tonight, I'm even more confident in my pick.
As a team, we saw the Laces shoot lights out vs the Phantome— 56.9 % from the floor, and 44.8 % from three. Much to what bettors witnessed in the WNBA Finals, Kayla McBride accounted for 28 of the teams 86 points, which included seven three-pointers. With all five players scoring in double figures, it's truly hard to stop them, especially Alyssa Thomas. 2-3 from the free-throw line, we can automatically assume free points will come from AT's trips to to the charity stripe alone.
Although I initially thought Dolson would struggle in the interior, she compliments this team extremely well, and brings in 3v3 Olympic experience. And can we talk about the nine total steals in game 1, coming from McBride, Martin, Dolson, and Hayes?
This team screams speed, three-point shooting, and downhill playmaking. With little holes in this roster, they went on to defeat the Mist, 63-43. Although their offense took a major regression (38.5 field goal %), their defense once again showed why they are the most elite in the league. It's twice now the Laces have held opponents to under 45 points. The Mist and Phantom combined for an average of 45.5 points vs the Laces. Now that's a telling betting stat.
In fact, they held the Mist to just 13.3 percent three-point shooting!
Today they get a tough matchup with a Vinyl team, led by Arike Ogunbowale, Dearica Hamby, Rhyne Howard, Aliyah Boston, Rae Burrell, and Jordan Canada. I do expect this to be a high defensive game, especially given the Vinyl held the Phantom to 69 points last game. A trio of Ogunbowale, Howard, and Hamby is incredibly hard to stop, and I do believe Hamby will have her way inside.
However, we saw the Vinyl nearly blow their lead vs the Rose in game one. While the Vinyl have some incredible talent, they have the ability to be more streaky on the offensive end.
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