Celtics Crossover Gaming had the opportunity to claim the No. 7 seed – the final playoff spot remaining – and failed to capitalize, falling to Magic Gaming to conclude each team’s final week of the 2K regular season.

It wasn’t just a tale of two halves for Boston, it was a story of multiple quarters. Magic Gaming opened up the first 12 minutes with a 10-point lead, thanks in large part to marley213, who tallied 15 points and 12 rebounds in the first half alone. Those rebounding numbers dwarfed that of Celtics Crossover Gaming (eight first-half boards) which helped Orlando attempt seven more shots than their opposition, leading to the double-digit advantage at the break.

But Celtics Crossover Gaming figured out their offense from that point forward, scorching ahead of Magic Gaming with a 29-17 third quarter. FAB and ARSONAL x were the main players to thank for the extended run as Boston actually managed to score more points in that third quarter than they did during the entire first half (27). A litany of mid range jumpers had Magic Gaming attempting to defend all angles, opening up the door for Celtics Crossover Gaming to hit a couple of timely threes, or feed their big man down low for easy buckets.

But all that offensive range evaporated in the fourth quarter thanks to a resilient Magic Gaming defense which held their opposition to less than 15 points in a quarter for the third time that game. While marley’s scoring prowess disappeared in the second quarter, he still managed to remain active on the boards, gobbling up another 10 in the final 12 minutes. As a result, the Celtics were forced to make every shot count, something they were unable to do for six straight minutes. A wide open missed three-pointer from the usually stout ProFusion ultimately ended up being a backbreaker, as the critical triple would have tied the game with just under two minutes remaining. Boston never recovered as Magic Gaming would go on to score 10 of the next 12 points to snatch the postseason hopes away from their opposition.