MEDLEY, Fla. — The Unrivaled women’s basketball league postseason begins Sunday night with two semifinal games to decide which clubs will play for the inaugural championship title.
Chelsea Gray and the No. 2 seed Rose will play without Unrivaled defensive player of the year Angel Reese (hand) against Kayla McBride, Alyssa Thomas and the No. 3 Laces in the first seminal game.
Napheesa Collier, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Alisha Gray and the No. 1 seed Lunar Owls will face Rhyne Howard, Dearica Hamby and the No. 4 seed Vinyl in the second seminal.
The winners of both games will advance to the Unrivaled championship game Monday night. Each player on the championship club will earn $50,000.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Unrivaled playoffs Sunday night:
What time does Unrivaled playoff games begin Sunday?
The Rose and Laces will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET, while the Lunar Owls and Vinyl will begin at 8:30 p.m.
How to watch Unrivaled playoff games?
Unrivaled games are available on TNT and TruTV, and available to live stream on Max in the United States.
When is the Unrivaled championship game?
The Unrivaled title game will be on Monday night at 7:30 p.m.
Angel Reese injured, won’t play in Unrivaled playoffs
Reese, of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky, won’t play in Sunday’s game for the Rose after injuring her surgically-repaired left hand during the Unrivaled regular-season finale last Monday.
It’s unclear whether she would be available to play if the Rose advance to the championship game. Reese did appear to participate in some capacity during Rose practice while wearing a brace.
Rose vs. Laces preview
The Rose won the season series 2-1, but they’ve seen three different versions of the Laces this season. Now, the Laces will see a different version of the Rose without Reese in action.
The Laces are led by Kayla McBride and Alyssa Thomas, while Jackie Young (illness) is questionable to play. The Rose will be led by Chelsea Gray, Azura Stevens and Lexie Hull.
Lunar Owls vs. Vinyl preview
The Lunar Owls started the season 8-0 before their only defeat to the Rose on Feb. 21. They have been Unrivaled’s best team with a 13-1 record, and the highest scoring offense in the league (80.7 ppg).
The Vinyl has two of the Top 5 Unrivaled scorers in Rhyne Howard (20.5 ppg) and Dearica Hamby (19.9 ppg), while Arike Ogunbowale has averaged 14.8 points in her last four games since returning from a leg injury.
Unrivaled end of season awards
Napheesa Collier, Chelsea Gray and Kayla McBride were named First Team All-Unrivaled, while Rhyne Howard, Angel Reese and Skylar Diggins-Smith were named Second-Team All-Unrivaled on Thursday.
Lunar Owls coach DJ Sackmann won Unrivaled Coach of the Year on Friday.
Reese earned Unrivaled Defensive Player of the Year honors on Saturday.
The Unrivaled Most Valuable Player award will be announced on Sunday with Collier as a favorite to win.
