It was essentially a tale of two halves for the winning squad, as Nets GC looked poised to pick up a blowout win following a dominant 40-29 opening 12 minutes. A 24-point second quarter aided Brooklyn in their endeavors, buoyed by a willingness to find the open man which resulted in assists on seven of the team’s nine made field goals during the quarter.

Leading the assist charge was Lav, who was playing only his third game at point guard this season. Attributing seven points (15 in the half) and three assists in the second quarter, it appeared as if Lav and company would waltz away with their fourth win of the NBA 2K League regular season.

Knicks Gaming had other ideas however, as the inaugural NBA 2K League champions put together a fierce rally in the third quarter, erasing the 11-point deficit to just three with one quarter to go. Limiting themselves to just two turnovers in the quarter, Knicks Gaming seemed to create issues with their defensive scheme, forcing four turnovers by Nets GC and essentially creating a plethora of poor decisions and ill-fated shots. Iamadamthe1st and OriginalMalik were instrumental in the run, as the backcourt mates combined to register 12 points on five-of-nine from the field.

The game stayed close throughout the fourth quarter, eventually boiling down to a series of mistakes with around a minute to go. Nets GC center Shockey put together arguably his best game of the season to date (18 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, three assists), but certainly his most impactful quarter, recording four points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal in the final six minutes. None of those rebounds were more important than a possession late in the game where the big man outrebounded G O O F Y 7 5 7 not once but twice, allowing the shot clock to run down on each occasion. The second offensive rebound gave NateKahl (14 points, four steals, three rebounds) an opportunity to ice the game against his former team which just over 40 seconds to play, connecting on a difficult mid-range attempt to put his team up five.

Both teams would trade three pointers, with Nets GC power forward Shuttles calmly knocking down a corner three which essentially capped the scoring from both sides. The new changes to the Nets GC lineup appear to have the team firing on all cylinders. Despite the lowly record of Knicks Gaming, this could be a banner type of game for the expansion team – one that could motivate the unit for a late-season playoff push.