Unrivaled opening night delivers plenty of drama with electric atmosphere

MIAMI — Napheesa Collier allowed herself a few moments during the player introductions Friday night before Unrivaled’s first game to take it all in. The music pulsing through the venue.The fans cheering when each name was called.

The blue-and-purple lights illuminating the runway leading to center court, where some players struck a pose before heading toward their team’s side of the scorer’s table. This is what Collier envisioned for Unrivaled when she and Breanna Stewart decided to team up on this endeavor. But once Collier, a Lunar Owls forward, and Stewart, a Mist forward, took center court for the league’s historical first opening tip, it was time to get down to business. “The fanfare around it is really exciting,” Collier said.“[But] once the ball goes up, I just focus on the game.” For the past few weeks of Unrivaled preseason, players had talked about the friendly nature of the league’s swanky facilities in Miami. “It’s like a fun summer camp,” Rose forward Angel Reese said. And even during the first quarter, there were some amiable moments between opposing teams. Dijonai Carrington stuffed Courtney Williams at the rim and forced a Lunar Owls turnover.

At the next play stoppage, Carrington and Williams were seen smiling and talking near midcourt. As the game went on, the competitor that lay within each athlete began to rear its head. Players argued with officials and chirped with one another.The game got more physical, too.

It felt like there were high stakes on the line. “We want to compete.I don’t think anyone loves losing,” Mist guard Jewell Loyd said.

“We want to make sure we always have an aggressive product on the court at all times and that’s the standard that we have.” Ultimately, what transpired for the next hour-plus was a back-and-forth duel that included an epic come-from-behind 84-80 win by the Lunar Owls. Skylar Diggins-Smith knocked in the first game-winning bucket — a 3 over Carrington t...