After 11 exhilarating weeks, we enter the final week of the regular season packed with some massive headlines. Playoff hopes, seeding games, and a shot at an undefeated season are all on the line in Week 12 before THE TICKET Powered by AT&T tips off the week after.  We have a ton to break down, so let’s get right into our storylines for this week!

STORYLINES

Each week, we’ll sort through the top storylines that emerged from the previous week of games. This can be team performances, standout players, new lineups, or anything that made a huge impact on the week.

1. Raptors Uprising GC go for 16-0.

1934 & 1942 Chicago Bears. 1972 Miami Dolphins. 2007 New England Patriots. That’s it, the only major American pro sports teams to ever have an undefeated regular season. In esports, it’s even rarer with Fnatic’s League of Legends team in 2015 being the only pro esports team ever recorded as undefeated. Raptors Uprising GC has the chance to join that illustrious group this coming Friday against Cavs Legion GC. We’ve talked a lot about this team all season long from a statistical point of view to try to explain just how impressive they have been. We’ve used almost every stat under the sun, but with the season coming to an end, here’s a list of the records they are about to break AS A TEAM this season.

• Team PPG
• Point Differential (AVG and total)
• Team FG%
• Team 3P%
• 3s made per game
• 3s attempted per game
• Offensive Rating
• Total wins
• Longest win streak
• Most points in a game (twice)

It’s truly the stuff of legend. We can have the argument of studio vs. remote gameplay until we are blue in the face, but even that argument misses the point of just how unlikely it is to ever go undefeated in a 16-game regular season, regardless of the circumstance. Add in the two tournament victories and maybe it’s just time we accept that this team has a resume that just might be the best 2KL team of all time. Of course…they need to win the championship to cement that title. Until then, let’s get through 16-0 first.

 

2. The bubble is about to pop.

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty. As all playoff bubbles do, it’s time for this one to pop. Six teams have already clinched a spot, leaving four spots open with one going to the winner of THE TICKET. Three teams out of the nine remaining have a chance this week to nab their spot in the postseason. Bucks Gaming, Hornets Venom GT, Blazer5 Gaming, T-Wolves Gaming, Nets GC, Knicks Gaming, 76ers GC and Hawks Talon GC all remain in the hunt for one of those spots and lucky for us, most of them play each other this week! The real lynchpin team in all of this is Blazer5 Gaming. Sitting at 7-6, they have a gauntlet of a schedule this week if they want to complete their season turnaround and make the Playoffs. T-Wolves Gaming, Wizards District Gaming, and 76ersGC stand in their way of a 3rd-straight playoff appearance. Other huge match-ups include Hornets Venom GT vs. Nets GC, Jazz Gaming vs. T-Wolves Gaming, and Bucks Gaming vs. Mavs Gaming. We’ve been counting scenarios and wins and losses all season just waiting to see who can make it out of the bubble and into the Playoffs. This is the week all of our questions get answers.

 

3. Rookie of the Year.

At this point, most of our readers know that I’m a bit of a stat junkie. Moving quickly past that understatement, the Season 3 Rookie of the Year race remains entirely up in the air. Instead of using words to eloquently break down every single point guard, let’s do a blind test and have you decide who you think should be the winner. We’ll present the top 5 players in the race from Jeff Eisenband’s most recent big board on BFW Live as our template, but scramble up the order so you can’t cheat.

• Option 1 – 29.7 PPG, 7.97 APG, 2.9 SPG, 66.5 TS%, 35.8 3P%, 22.99 PIE, 5-10 team record
• Option 2 – 26.3 PPG, 6.3 APG, .9 SPG, 68.1 TS%, 47.9 3P%, 19.29 PIE, 11-2 team record
• Option 3 – 29.8 PPG, 9.6 APG, 1.2 SPG, 71.0 TS%, 45.6 3P%, 24.85 PIE, 7-7 team record
• Option 4 – 32.9 PPG, 8.6 APG, 1.6 SPG, 72.6 TS%, 44.9 3P%, 26.88 PIE, 8-6 team record
• Option 5 – 9.5 PPG, 2.3 APG, 2.9 SPG, 85.0 TS%, 63.8 3P%, 10.95 PIE, 10-5 team record

At this point, there isn’t a wrong choice, only your opinion.

 

4. Who is the 2nd-best team in the league?

Disclaimer, Raptors Uprising GC is the best team in the league. With that out of the way, let’s get to my favorite storyline of the week — who is the 2nd-best team in the league right now? We have four options that I will make a case for, but before we get to those four, it should be noted that this list is compiled with equal amounts of respect for the fine season Mavs Gaming is having. Close wins over Warriors Gaming Squad and Kings Guard Gaming are great, but with a negative point differential, we’ll leave them out…for now.

Kings Guard Gaming

What they lack in total record, they make up for in pure grit and tournament success. Owners of the 2nd-best defense in the entire league by PPG and defensive rating, this squad has been wildly difficult to beat with the money on the line. They held Jazz Gaming to 90 total points in a 2-game series! In fairness, it was before Jazz Gaming really hit their stride, but 90 points is 90 points. For their losses this season, all of them have been incredibly close. The point differentials in these losses to Mavs Gaming, Warriors Gaming and Raptors Uprising were all in the single-digits and could’ve gone either way if you played the series over again. Looking at tournaments, if it wasn’t for Raptors Uprising GC, they might be the ones holding two banners. They are also one of the only teams in the league to actually give Raptors Uprising GC a run for their money this season, a fact that can’t be ignored in the face of the impending 16-0 season. Kings Guard Gaming have been extremely good, but there seems to be a slight bump that they can’t quite get over.

Utah Jazz Gaming

Owners of one of the best offenses in the entire league, Jazz Gaming hit the lofty ceiling only few, (including yours truly), expected for them. Led by ROY candidate Splashy and former #1 overall pick Ria, Jazz Gaming has picked up impressive wins this season against both Wizards DG and Warriors Gaming Squad and have only dropped two series this season, however one came against Kings Guard Gaming. They’ve been extremely impressive on defense this season, ranking 3rd in team SPG at 8.1 alongside a top-5 ranking in defensive rating at 109.7. It’s a quality team with extreme consistency, but their issues getting over the hump have to be noted. Back-to-back semifinal losses in both tournaments this season leave a little to be desired, however just getting there is impressive enough.

Warriors Gaming Squad

They fell to Jazz Gaming in a really fun series, but you don’t get to 13-3 by accident. They boast a 10.81 point differential, the 3rd-best offense in the league, a 105.5 defensive rating. Bottom line: this team is excellent. They play great team defense and are as consistent as any team in the league game-to-game. On the player side, few teams have had a better starting 5 than WGS. If it wasn’t for a 40 PER season (yes, I said 40 PER) from Kenny Got Work, CB13 would likely be the MVP front-runner. The same applies for Gradient with DPOY and TimelyCook. It’s a special group that has won plenty of big games over the past two seasons. There just aren’t many teams in the league that can keep up with WGS.

Wizards District Gaming

When your only two losses of the season come against Jazz Gaming and Raptors Uprising GC, you’re having a pretty good season. Owners of the 2nd-highest point differential in the league at 11.63, Wizards District Gaming have followed their league-best defense to a 12-2 record and the Finals of THE TURN Powered by AT&T. They’ve shot a wildly impressive 62.3% from the field as a team and JBM’s awesome month of July (28.4-7.3) saw the team take a leap that they didn’t show in the first half of the season. They don’t have the impressive regular-season victories that some other teams do, but you can’t ignore any team that holds opponents to under 60 PPG. Dayfri is the bonafide leader of this team, but with Newdini next to him and Just Awkward and ReeseDaGod on the wing, this team is going to be incredibly tough to beat in the Playoffs.

 

5. Thank you to the fans!

With the regular season coming to a close, I wanted to give a huge shoutout to the fans of the league and the readers of the notebook. Your support has made every challenge faced during this unique season worth it. We still have four incredible weeks left, but for now, a big thank you from your favorite stat nerd.

 

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

Who taught Gradient to dunk like this?!

👀 @Gradient's at it again! 🌀 pic.twitter.com/GKKPHWEkME

— NBA 2K League (@NBA2KLeague) August 1, 2020

14-0.

They're still chasing perfection up north. 😤😤😤

After pulling out a GRITTY double-OT win, @RaptorsGC improves to 14-0 on the season! pic.twitter.com/Neuja54vrh

— NBA 2K League (@NBA2KLeague) July 30, 2020

MVP candidate for a reason!

Floor general @CB13 (27.7 PPG, 9 APG, 57 FG%) helped lead @WarriorsGaming into another Playoff berth on Tuesday! pic.twitter.com/oj6NKLQweI

— NBA2KLeague (@NBA2KLeague) July 29, 2020

 

3 Games to Watch in Week 7

Blazer5 Gaming (7-6) vs. T-Wolves Gaming (7-6)
Tuesday, August 4th – 10 pm/et

Maybe the most important game of the entire season for both of these teams, this match-up could go a long way to deciding who will make the Playoffs. These two teams have quite the history going back to last season, so it only makes sense that these two teams go at it with so much on the line. It’s Mama vs. Bear. It’s Feast vs. Walnut. It’s playoff birth vs. trying to get in through THE TICKET. Couldn’t ask for a better game between two bubble teams.

Hornets Venom GT (8-6) vs. NetsGC (7-7)
Wednesday, August 5th – 7 pm/et

All three of these games are going to have playoff implications and this game, in particular, could decide whether or not Choc and NetsGC get in. They need a win to keep pace with the other bubble teams and avoid a similar fate that they experienced last season where they dropped four straight to fall out of the Playoffs. Hornets Venom GT picked up a key win last week to get to 8-6, so they can afford to lose this one as long as they don’t drop their other game against Heat Check Gaming on Thursday.

Bucks Gaming (8-6) vs. Mavs Gaming (10-5)
Friday, August 7th – 9 pm/et

The final game of a chaotic last week of the regular season, this Mavs-Bucks game could decide the seeding for the entire bottom half of the playoff bracket. Bucks Gaming are staring down the barrel of their 1st playoff appearance in team history, but they have to go 2-0 to secure a spot with no worries of missing out on tie-breakers. For Mavs Gaming, they are already in the hunt, but winning this game could push them ahead of Kings Guard Gaming in the official seeding and give them a more favorable match-up in round 1 of the Playoffs. It’s a big game for both a perfect Game of the Week.