Heat Stifle Wizards in 95-77 Win

Heat Check Gaming (7-4) proved to be one of the hottest teams in the NBA 2K League with their fourth straight regular season win.

Their latest victory, a 95-77 rout of Wizards District Gaming (5-6) showed yet another strong performance from Hotshot, who led all scorers with 51 points on 23-of-27 shooting. Much like the Heat’s Week 9 beatdown on 76ers GC, Hotshot’s supporting cast came in to help Miami exact revenge on the team who knocked them out of the first round of THE TICKET.

After leading by four in the first quarter, Miami turned up the heat as Hotshot was balling on a perfect 12-of-12 from the field. His ability to slash into the paint and score easy buckets against Boo Painter and company, along with some costly Wizards turnovers, made it a 14 point game before halftime.

It was much of the same after the break, with Hotshot drawing in more defenders while teammates SharpShooterlos and 24K Dropoff were wide open on the wings. By the end of the game, the whole Miami team sans Hotshot made 11-of-14 from downtown, as it seemed everyone on the team was firing out green threes indefinitely.

Of course, if Washington decided to man up, then Hotshot would blow past his matchup and continue to score. The man who is slowly creeping up the league scoring leaders list was near unstoppable, even when he was against fellow scoring machine Boo Painter. Washington’s star forward dropped 46 points on 22-of-30 shooting in the loss, which could be blamed on a weaker scoring effort from his teammates.

The Heat will now look to lock up an NBA 2K League Playoff spot next week when they face KingsGuard Gaming on August 4 at 1 p.m.

Blazer5 Clinch 2K Playoffs Bid With 10th Regular Season Win

Welcome to the NBA 2K League Playoffs, Blazer5 Gaming.

Portland’s team punched their ticket to the postseason with a 79-75 win against Jazz Gaming (5-6), who had 11 more opportunities to score and effectively steal this important contest with playoff implications.

A back-and-forth first quarter ended with the teams knotted up at 18, with the Jazz breaking free on an 8-0 run to start the second. Blazer5 (10-1) eventually closed the deficit to just two points by halftime, riding off Dat Boy Shotz’ ability to score from anywhere on the court. He ended the half shooting 7-of-10 for 16 points with a pair of three-pointers. On the other end of the court, Yeah I Compete and MrSlaughter01 were a dynamic exterior-interior scoring combo, scoring 29 out of their team’s 37 first half points.

Blazer5 tightened up their defense against these two players, who soon turned cold on the court and unable to convert their extra chances into buckets. On offense, Portland started getting the whole team involved in scoring, including OneWildWalnut who put up 22 of his 24 points in a fantastic clutch second half performance. His play allowed Blazer5 to take the lead in the fourth quarter, with GRANT MONSTER throwing in a dagger from deep in the game’s final seconds to seal their spot in the playoffs.

Now that Blazer5 Gaming have clinched a postseason bid, their next goal is to claim the number one seed in the playoffs. They will hope to do just that later this afternoon with a game against Kings Guard Gaming, as well as matches against Wizards District Gaming and Pacers Gaming to close out the regular season.

Pacers Drop 102 Points in Upset Against Celtics

Pacers Gaming (5-6) made league history while staying alive in the race for the NBA 2K League Playoffs.

In an effort that saw them make 42 field goal attempts — 15 of those from beyond the arc — the Pacers dominated Celtics Crossover Gaming (7-5) 102-68. Boston were completely outmatched by an Indianapolis team desperate for victories, as the Pacers’ barrage of three-pointers left them stunned on the court.

The first half saw Swizurk get hot early, as he made 3-of-5 from downtown and lead his team in scoring with 15 points. Pacers Gaming used a more balanced effort on offense, which is partially thanks to WoLF 74 who distributed 10 assists by the break.

As for the Celtics, they put all of their eggs in oFAB’s basket, feeding the league leader in assists with plenty of scoring opportunities. In an odd twist, oFAB was heavily relied on for scoring from deep and was counted on for eight three-point attempts in the first half. He only made three shots from downtown, but he picked up a few points inside the key to lead all scorers with 19 by halftime.

At the break, the Pacers led 40-35 in what was a close half of play, but it soon turned ugly when they dropped 32 points in just six minutes of play on the Celtics. By the end of the game, the Pacers outscored the Celtics 62-33, mostly thanks to Swizurk and vGooner making it rain from downtown.

This offensive firestorm is a rarity for the Pacers, who will no doubt use this game as a confidence booster ahead of a tough road to NBA 2K League postseason play.

Warriors Eliminated From Playoff Contention in 61-58 Loss to Wizards

Wizards District Gaming (6-6) outlasted a furious push from Warriors Gaming Squad (2-9) to keep their own playoff run alive while simultaneously eliminating Golden State from the running in a 61-58 contest.

Needing a win to keep themselves in the running for the playoffs, the Warriors came out the gate sticking incredibly close to the Wizards during the first half of the game. The first quarter was dead even at 15 points apiece, but the Wizards opened the second quarter with a 7-2 run to take an early lead. As the quarter progressed, though, Type and Vert pushed the Warriors to a nice run of their own to head into the second half down just one point.

To the surprise of no one, this game continued to move along at a snail’s pace as both teams coughed up the ball with painful regularity to the tune of 24 turnovers between the two squad’s by the game’s end. This led to very little scoring on either side as the team tried to string together baskets through the mistakes. As such, the game went down to the wire.

The Wizards were in control down the stretch, nursing a two-possession lead for most of the final few minutes. To their credit, the Warriors never gave up and even had an opportunity to tie the game in the waning seconds of the game, but just couldn’t hit their shots. They missed three shots in the final 10 seconds of the game, which allowed the Wizards to hold on for the win and dash any hopes the Warriors had at the playoffs.

For the Wizards, the MVP was, of course, Boo Painter who took a game-high 21 shots, connecting on 16 of them to put up 36 points in the win. The next closest player to him, however, was Demon JT at just 13 points. This might have allowed them to take down a team like the Warriors, but as the playoffs grow closer, the rest of the team will surely need to step up for this team to survive.

Pistons GT Stays Hot with Win Over Jazz Gaming

Pistons GT ran away with a 74-64 win over Jazz Gaming to hold onto their spot at the top of the NBA 2K League standings.

While the Pistons (8-3) might have won by double digits, the Jazz (5-7) managed to keep things close until almost the very end of the game. These teams spent the better part of 24 minutes jockeying for position, as neither could really get much breathing room against the other.

After a slow first quarter from both sides, the Pistons were the first ones to get a run going early in the second. The lead may not have lasted long, but the statement it made was loud and clear. The Pistons were hellbent on controlling the pace of the game at every point and never let the Jazz forget it at any moment. Even with the Pistons staking their claim early and often, the Jazz never let things get too far out of control all the way into the final quarter.

Unfortunately for Utah, however, they just couldn’t fully bridge that gap when it came down to crunch time. The Pistons took a 69-64 lead with just over a minute left in the game and the Jazz just couldn’t knock down the shot to keep hope alive. The Pistons, meanwhile, kept chugging along with five more points in that final minute to put the game away for good.

While the Pistons are now sitting pretty near the top of the standings with a solid chance at securing the No. 2 seed heading into the playoffs, the Jazz are on life support heading into the final two weeks of the season. They’ve now lost a whopping five games in a row and with the red-hot Knicks Gaming on the slate in Week 11, things won’t get any easier.

Raptors Uprising Helps Playoff Hopes with Win Over Cavs Legion

Raptors Uprising Gaming made quick work of Cavs Legion GC in a 77-55 contest during Saturday’s NBA 2K League slate.

Right out the gate, the Raptors (6-6) were putting on a show as they were blowing the Cavs (7-5) right out of the water. Before long, the Raptors had taken an unheard of 18-5 lead in the first quarter as it was hitting from just about anywhere while the Cavs were being stifled on the defensive end. A large part of the Raptors dominance early on was its incredible 12-to-2 lead on the boards, which left the Raptors with plenty of options on the offensive side of the equation.

From there on, there was simply nothing at all that Cleveland could do to stop the onslaught. Every single quarter went the way of the Raptors, as they were living right on their way to a statement win. Leading the way was Kenny who tallied a 29-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound triple-double during the big win. It was a welcomed performance from a team that had yet to find a modicum of stability as we head into the final two weeks of the season. A solid win like this could be just what they needed to get the train moving.

The Cavs, meanwhile, will surely want to forget this one happened as soon as possible. It simply seemed as though they had a false start and just never recovered. They still sit above the back with seven wins but will want to prevent this from happening again in the final two weeks in order to lock up that coveted playoff seed.

Blazer5 Clinches No. 1 Seed with Double OT Win Over Kings Guard

Blazer5 Gaming capitalized on the mistakes of Kings Guard Gaming to pick up a 94-91 double overtime win to close out Week 10 of the NBA 2K League, locking up the No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs.

It was no surprise that this game was incredibly close, but the way Blazer5 (11-1) managed to take down the Kings (3-8) was quite the surprise. The teams had battled back and forth during the entire game, setting up a furious finish that ended up being one of the most exciting of the entire season.

While the Kings had plenty of chances to win this game, the mistakes piled on and eventually squashed any hope the team had at ending the massive losing streak it was on. As regulation wound down, the Kings had the ball for what should have been the final shot, but missed an awkward runner in the paint, leaving just over two seconds on the clock. Thankfully, they came up with a block on Blazer5’s final shot attempt to send the game into overtime.

The first overtime proceeded much like the rest of the game, with things ended up close in the final moments. This time around, though, the Kings had a four-point lead with under a minute left when ColeWorld2K, who put up 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from downtown, flung up a pair of questionable threes that rang off the rim. Blazer5 grabbed the rebound on the second shot, went down the court, and got an easy layup to cut the lead to just two points. SAFiya4ya then turned the ball over on the ensuing inbound to give Blazer5 the ball once more with a chance to tie. Portland took advantage of this and sent the game into a second overtime on a buzzer beater layup.

Tempers were flaring on the side of Kings Guard as Blazer5 kept calm and ran up the score in the second overtime, taking a quick 90-82 lead. The Kings did close the gap to three points by the end of the game, but the result was almost never in doubt. Mama Im Dat Man garnered MVP honors with a 29-point, 24-assist double-double that powered Portland to this big win.