With the goal score set at 72 after Phantom finished the third quarter with a 60-56 lead, Rose cut its deficit to 64-63 on a Sug Sutton layup. Plum and Angel Reese then traded three-pointers to keep the game within one point at 67-66. But Plum followed with another three to put Phantom within one basket of victory.
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A Lexie Hull layup made it a 70-68 game, but Rose couldn’t get the defensive stop she needed on Phantom’s next possession. Dribbling a screen from Kiki Iriafen on the left wing, Plum drove into the lane and scored a short shot over Hull for the win.
Plum finished with a game-high 35 points (making 6 of 12 three-pointers) with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Tiffany Hayes followed with 17 points, adding 4 rebounds and 4 assists, while Iriafen scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.Rose was led by Reese’s 17 points and 8 rebounds, with Kahleah Copper adding 16 points. At 6-8, Rose will be in the playoffs as the No. 5 seed.
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Phantom finished last in Unrivaled last year at 4-10, but drafted Plum for this season and made a big impact, scoring 22.6 points per game.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity; I don’t take it lightly,” Plum said afterward, via announcer Wendell Epps. “I was excited to come to a team that was in last place. For me, I want to achieve winning at the highest level.”
With their record of 11-3, Phantom finished ahead of Mist (10-4) for the first playoff spot. Mist defeated Vinyl earlier on Friday, 72-62, and would have tied for the best record if Phantom had lost. However, the first tiebreaker is a head-to-head record and Phantom won both matchups with Mist, 64-61 on January 12 and 83-71 on February 7.
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The Unrivaled playoffs begin Saturday with first-round games in Miami scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET and 9:45 p.m. ET. Phantom and Mist will get byes in the first round, while Laces will face Vinyl and Breeze will face Rose.
The two semifinals will be played in Brooklyn on March 2, followed by the championship game in Miami on March 4.