By Rotowire

A bye week clearly did Grizz Gaming (1-3) favors as the previously winless club finally got on the right side of the ledger 2019, knocking off Bucks Gaming (3-2) 61-52 to kickoff Thursday’s Week 4 action in the NBA 2K League.

2019 first-round pick Vandi finally lived up to his draft position Thursday, eviscerating a Bucks Gaming defense that had only recently stifled some of the best teams in the NBA 2K League. The Grizz Gaming point guard finished the stunning win with 28 points (11-19 FG, 3-5 3Pt, 3-3 FT), 11 assists, one steal and one rebound – a box line that might actually undersell his impact on the game.

A noticeably more aggressive Vandi daftly maneuvered the pick-and-roll early on, taking advantage of the defense’s focus on AuthenticAfrican to continually find mid-range shots and sly layups near the rim. What’s more, the point guard continually harassed Bucks Gaming point guard SlayIsland up and down the court, forcing multiple half-court violations in the first half.

Bucks Gaming would catch onto Vandi’s act in the second half, but by that point Grizz Gaming had already adjusted, setting up three-point opportunities for their point guard as Milwaukee sagged into the paint. While Vandi would only go 3-for-5 from deep, he made all but one of his team’s deep-range shots, effectively holding off what became a valiant push from the NBA 2K League’s leading scorer, ARooks, who scored the majority of his 13 points in the second half.

Unable to rely on ARooks for much of the contest, Bucks Gaming looked noticeably ineffective on offense, making just nine of their first 21 shots mid way through the third quarter. The small forward would catch fire late, but without the sharpshooter available to stretch the court, Milwaukee would fail to generate any sort of consistent offense. A handful of bailout threes from BigMeek (13 points on 5-of-10 shooting) and offensive rebounds from Plondo (13 points, nine boards) weren’t enough to offset a backcourt that scored just 12 points to go with seven turnovers.

It’s worth pointing out that Grizz Gaming power forward DDouble got his first start of the season, and while the big man didn’t score much (four points, two rebounds) he was a crucial member of the team’s stifling half-court press, picking up two steals while generally being a nuisance any time Bucks Gaming attempted to bring the ball up. It’ll be interesting to see whether Grizz Gaming insert the power forward back into the lineup Friday against Jazz Gaming during the final game of Week 4.