Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball is back, as a second slate of weekend games shines a spotlight on the new league's three winless teams as they rally for redemption.

Phantom BC, Mist BC, and Rose BC are all 0-2 out of the gate, with the six-team league evenly divided between the undefeated and the winless after last week's debut.

At least one of the three will end up in the win column on Friday night, with the Mist and Phantom squaring off in the first game of the doubleheader.

Both lineups contain serious firepower, with Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart leading the Mist alongside sharpshooter Jewell Loyd, whose 20 points per game have her currently in fourth-place on the league's stat sheet. The Phantom boasts the talents of Sabrina Ionescu and Brittney Griner.

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While both have fallen victim to more cohesive game-plans, the Phantom in particular have struggled, posting a league-low average of 58.5 points per game to ultimately drop their first two outings by an average of 29 points.

Saturday's action sees Chelsea Gray and Angel Reese's Rose BC step into the spotlight, going up against a Mist team facing back-to-back matchups.

The Rose roster features two of the offseason league's top scorers in Gray and Kahleah Copper, who each averaged 14.5 points per game through Unrivaled's opening weekend. However, they'll need to lock in on defense to quiet Mist standout DiJonai Carrington's shooting in transition.

Vinyl's Rhyne Howard dribbles around Rose's Kahleah Copper in their Unrivaled game.
Rhyne Howard leads the Vinyl with 23.5 points per game. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Friday's Unrivaled doubleheader tests undefeated teams

The second game of Friday's doubleheader flips the script as two teams put their undefeated starts on the line.

The Laces, led by Kayla McBride's 24.5 points per game, will take on a Vinyl side that rosters three of the league's Top 10 scorers — more than any other Unrivaled team. The trio of Rhyne Howard, Dearica Hamby, and Arike Ogunbowale are poised to cool the Laces' hot start.

How to watch Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball games

Unrivaled's second weekend slate tips off on Friday with the Phantom vs. the Mist at 7:15 PM ET, before the Laces play the Vinyl at 8:15 PM ET. Live coverage of both games will air on TNT.

Friday's Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball debut was an unequivocal success for TV partner TNT Sports, as the new offseason 3x3 league's opening lineup became the most-watched women's basketball games in the broadcast network's history.

The doubleheader logged viewership averages of 313,000 and 311,000, respectively, with the first game peaking at 364,000.

Notably, these numbers do not include viewers on Max, where every Unrivaled game is available to stream live under the league's six-year, $100 million media deal with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

Unrivaled star Shakira Austin #1 of the Lunar Owls drives against Aaliyah Edwards #3 of the Mist during the first half at The Mediapro Studio on January 17, 2025 in Medley, Florida.
Unrivaled debuted to great acclaim late last week. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

In 2022, WNBA games averaged 372,000 viewers across Disney networks, with the league later surpassing 500,000 across ABC, ESPN, and CBS in 2023 before reaching a 1.19 million average on ESPN in 2024.

Unlike the well-established WNBA, which is on the cusp of entering its 29th year, Unrivaled is a new-look product in its first-ever season. With that in mind, Unrivaled's initial numbers are promising, particularly for a league that's prioritizing long-term wins over instant gratification.

"I think we put ourselves in a great position to be successful right away, but it’s a marathon,"  league president Alex Bazzell told The Athletic before Unrivaled’s launch. "We’re not running out there from Day 1 trying to get millions of viewers out of the gate."

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One piece of the Unrivaled fan engagement puzzle

Viewership is just one way the league is measuring fan engagement, with Unrivaled also turning an eye toward social media metrics.

"[Viewership is] not fully indicative of what is the overall fan interest because there’s so many ways to consume leagues and teams and highlights," noted Bazzell.

It's one reason that partnering with WBD was so appealing to the new league. The media giant's already robust sports social media channels are elevating Unrivaled content across platforms to an established, sports-hungry audience.

To that end, Unrivaled’s opening weekend content garnered 31 million views across WBD’s social channels and fueled a 59% viewership boost of the media giant's women's sports-specific TikTok account.