Wizards District Gaming and Heat Check Gaming are riding into THE TICKET tournament hot on a two game win streak, but only one will advance to the second round of this all-important mid-season event. These two teams will be in a rematch of their first round fight in THE TURN tournament, where the Wizards extinguished the Heat 80-67

The Wizard’s Boo Painter will have a target on his back for THE TICKET, as he earned the league’s second ever triple-double with 45 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. With the updated archetypes in place, he has gravitated towards the shot-creating slasher small forward build, which allows him to take control of the Wizards offense with incredible scoring abilities and solid ball handling skills.

Heat Check Gaming will try to match Painter’s production with their own small forward threat Hotshot, who dropped 25 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in a heated contest against Celtics Crossover Gaming. He and 24k Dropoff are a formidable 3-4 combo that teams have struggled to defend in the paint, as the duo most often tally up more than half of their team’s total points in any given contest.

Although the Heat have a strong chance of bullying the Wizards frontcourt, their perimeter defense might be exposed to a barrage of three-pointers. Against the Grizz, Washington’s Demon JT, ReeseDaGod23 and Jin made 7-of-11 from downtown, with most of their chances coming from open space created by Boo Painter when he drives down the lane. In the Heat’s last game, they let oFAB go 6-of-12 from beyond the arc, and allowed 24 total three-point attempts.

Miami’s defense is shaky considering their effort against the Wizards in the last tournament. In that loss, Miami allowed Boo to drop 41 points and 12 rebounds, with a good chunk of those coming on offense. Still, it’s a new game considering the archetype balance changes, so the Heat may not be too scared of a first round redux.

A win for the Heat would mark the first time they have ever made it past the first round of an NBA 2K League tournament, while a victory for the Wizards would guarantee their second-straight top-eight placement at a mid-season tournament.