Unrivaled opening night takeaways: Skylar Diggins-Smith hits walk-off 3-pointer in inaugural game – CBS Sports
If not listed, please contact your TV provider.Unrivaled, the new 3-on-3 basketball league co-founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, tipped off in Miami on Friday and got off to a thrilling start. In the league’s first game, Skylar Diggins-Smith hit a walk-off 3-pointer to lift Lunar Owls BC to a dramatic comeback win over Mist BC, 84-80. In the nightcap, Rhyne Howard poured in 33 points to carry Vinyl BC to a 79-73 win over Rose BC. The action continued on Saturday with Diggins hitting another game winner although that one was from the foul line in a 79-70 victory over Rose. Laces BC rolled over Phantom BC, 86-48, in Saturday’s opener. The Week 1 schedule will conclude on Monday night with two more games.With the first night of Unrivaled in the books, here are some key takeaways:One of the many unique aspects of Unrivaled is that the fourth quarter is untimed, and the teams will play to a “winning score” that is determined by adding 11 points to the leading team’s point total at the end of the third quarter. In the opener, Mist led 73-67 after three, which put the winning score at 84. Lunar Owls had trailed most of the night, but they got their act together in the fourth quarter to stage a big comeback. Diggins-Smith, who had struggled earlier in the game, set the tone in the fourth on both ends of the floor. And when it came to winning time, she took control. First, Diggins-Smith hit a 3 to put Lunar Owls up 81-78, and then, after Jewell Loyd scored on the other end to make it 81-80, Diggins-Smith looked to close the show. She called for a screen, and immediately went into her shot when DiJonai Carrington went under — a big mistake given the circumstances. Diggins-Smith’s jumper rattled in and the Lunar Owls bench stormed the court to celebrate. SKYLAR DIGGINS-SMITH CALLS GAME FOR THE LUNAR OWLS 😱🔥WOW. pic.twitter.com/gCEkBUvt1uDiggins-Smith finished with 21 points in the win to get the short-handed Lunar Owls, the only team with five players, off to a 1-0 start. If the teams had been playing another seven-minute quarter, Mist may have been able to hold the Lunar Owls off down the stretch. But with the “winning score” format you can’t just run out the clock. That really puts the pressure on both teams and, as we’ve already seen, will lead to some exciting comebacks. Rhyne Howard has been a bit inconsistent as a shotmaker in her first three seasons in the WNBA, but few in the league are more difficult to stop when they get it going. Rose BC learned that lesson the hard way on Friday, as Howard drained six 3-pointers and finished with 33 points and six rebounds in Vinyl BC’s victory. Early in the third quarter, Vinyl were clinging to a three-point lead when Howard suddenly took over. In less than two minutes, she made three 3s and scored 11 points to push Vinyl’s lead to double figures, and they never looked back. Rhyne Howard is cooking pic.twitter.com/KAXtCAtR5AHoward’s performance was perhaps the starkest indication that this will ineed be a guard’s league, just as many experts predicted. The amount of space on the court and the up-and-down nature of the games makes it borderline impossible to stop guards like Howard who can get downhill and create their own shot. Here’s a list of every player that scored at least 20 points on opening night: Howard (33), Jewell Loyd (30), Napheesa Collier (27), Kahleah Copper (24), Skylar Diggins-Smith (21) and Chelsea Gray (21). The only forward among them was Collier, who is a unique talent in the frontcourt. © 2004-2024 CBS Interactive. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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