Unrivaled: Kelsey Plum hits game-winner in Phantom's 72-68 win, clinching top seed in playoffs

Kelsey Plum hit the game-winning shot for Phantom in a 72-68 win over Rose in Unrivaled on Friday night. The victory clinched the top seed in the Unrivaled playoffs for Phantom, who finished the regular season 11-3. 

With the target score set at 72 after Phantom finished the third quarter with a 60-56 lead, Rose cut its deficit to 64-63 on a layup by Sug Sutton. Plum and Angel Reese then traded 3-pointers to keep it a one-point game at 67-66. But Plum then followed with another 3 to put Phantom one basket away from the win. 

A Lexie Hull layup made it a 70-68 game, but Rose couldn't get the defensive stop it needed on Phantom's next possession. Dribbling off a screen by Kiki Iriafen at the left wing, Plum drove into the lane and hit a short jumper over Hull for the win.

Plum finished with a game-high 35 points (hitting 6-of-12 3-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 boards. 

Rose was led by Reese's 17 points and eight rebounds, with Kahleah Copper adding 16 points. At 6-8, Rose will be in the playoffs as the No. 5 seed. 

Phantom finished last in Unrivaled last year at 4-10, but drafted Plum for this season and she made a big impact, scoring 22.6 points per game.

"I was just super grateful for the opportunity; I don't take that lightly," Plum said afterward, via broadcaster Wendell Epps. "I was excited to come to a team that was in last place. For me, I want to affect winning at the highest level."

Phantom finished ahead of Mist (10-4) for the top seed in the playoffs. 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 head-to-head record, and Phantom won both of the matchups with Mist, 64-61 on Jan. 12 and 83-71 on Feb. 7.

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 first-round byes, while Laces face Vinyl and Breeze matches up versus Rose. 

The two semifinal contests will be played in Brooklyn on Monday, followed by the championship game in Miami on Wednesday.