–RotoWire–

HED: Blazer5 Big Three Squashes Magic, 86-70

The Blazer5 Big Three could not be stopped by Magic Gaming, as Portland dominated Orlando 86-70 to advance to THE TURN semifinals. This is the third time this year that Blazer5 beat the Magic.

The trio of Mama Im Dat Man, Dat Boy Shotz and OneWildWalnut established Portland’s offense early, rolling into the paint with ease to take high percentage shots. On defense, they smothered their assignments, only allowing Magic Gaming to shoot 42 percent from the field. At the half, Blazer5 led 39-27, with Shotz and Dat Man scoring more points combined than the entire Orlando roster.

Magic Gaming looked deflated after the break, passing the ball right to Blazer5 players while Shotz and Walnut routinely picked up second chance points. They tried to stack the paint in an effort to cool the Blazer5 frontcourt down, but that left the perimeter wide open for Lavish_phenom and Dat Man to rain in threes.

The Magic started to hit a few three-pointers of their own in the fourth quarter, but their attempt at a surge was too little, too late. Although Walnut had a double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds and Shotz had a similarly strong game, Dat Man earned Intel Performance of the Game honors for putting up 30 points and 14 assists.

Blazer5 Gaming will face the winner of Knicks Gaming and Warriors Gaming Squad in THE TURN semifinals.

 

HED: 76ers Fend Off Wizards, 70-67

In a battle between two teams that define the 2K League meta, the 76ers Gaming Club pushed past Wizards District Gaming 70-67 to advance to THE TURN semifinals.

Both teams used a pick and roll offense to feed their big men, with the 76ers heavily relying on Steez early in the first half. Although the Wizards gameplan usually rolls through Boo Painter, Washington kept feeding a red-hot Demon JT, who scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Not to be outdone, Boo Painter found his momentum in the second half, where he scored the majority of his 32 points. His performance looked MVP-like outside of the fourth quarter, where he and his team could not clutch up against the 76ers.

After Jin slammed one in to put the Wizards up 67-65, Radiant found Newdini’s assignment lost in a shuffle and sent the ball over to his teammate who hit the triple. Steez then posterized XGREATXGILLY13 with 18 second left to play to give the 76ers a three-point lead that would not be broken by Boo Painter nor Jin, who both put up unsuccessful game-tying three-point attempts.

Outside of iFEAST and Radiant shooting a combined 15-of-17 from the field, Radiant’s offensive performance against Wizards District Gaming stood out due to his ability to facilitate Philadelphia’s offense and knock down shots from beyond the arc. He ended the game with 23 points, shot 5-of-8 from three-point range and racked up 15 assists.

The 76ers Gaming Club’s quest to add another piece to their 2K League banner will continue later on Saturday when they face the winner of Mavs Gaming and Celtics Crossover Gaming in THE TURN semifinals.

 

HED: Knicks Advance to THE TURN Semifinals with 68-63 Victory Against Warriors

For the third time this season, the Warriors Gaming Squad could not beat Knicks Gaming, falling to the hometown team 68-63 to exit THE TURN in the quarterfinal round.

After finishing the first quarter only down by one point, the Warriors gave up an 11-4 run at the end of the second. Vert did most of the heavy lifting for the Warriors on offense, using his pure rim protector archetype to haul in 27 points and 7 rebounds to no avail.

Despite his solid day from the field, Vert could not handle G O O F Y 757 and IdrisDaGoat6 in the paint, who bullied him around and scored a combined 39 points in the contest. It could have been a higher scoring game for either Knicks Gaming big man, but both missed about half of their attempted shots.

In an interesting use of clock management, the Knicks used up all their timeouts with more than three minutes left to play in the game. Fortunately for New York, this lapse in game awareness didn’t end up coming back to bite them, although they came close to losing the game with less than a minute left to play. LYKaPro had the opportunity to tie the game at 66-66 from the top of the three-point-line but missed his fourth attempt from downtown of the game and gave the win to the Knicks.

Knicks Gaming’s Cinderella run will be tested in their semifinal match against the #1 seed Blazer5 Gaming, who roll into that game on a six-game win streak.

 

HED: Celtics Crush Mavs 77-59, Deepening the Dimez and oFAB Rivalry

Dat Boy Dimez and oFAB finally have a rivalry.

Celtics Crossover Gaming earned their first win over Mavs Gaming this season, kicking Dallas out of THE TURN with a 77-59 victory. Previously, the Celtics lost to the Mavs in THE TIPOFF and during the regular season.

The No. 1 and 2 draft picks both went with the sharpshooting playmaker archetype for this game, but each put their own flair on the archetype in this outing. In the first quarter, Dat Boy Dimez got his revenge on oFAB for how he shut him down in their last meeting, not allowing him to score a single bucket and forcing him to play through his teammates.

Although he was struggling to shoot, oFAB decided to focus on feeding his teammates and racked up assists, ending the first half with 13 dimes. His selfless play helped Celtics Crossover Gaming eventually close the deficit with an 11-4 run midway through the second quarter, giving the C’s a 35-29 advantage at the half.

Continuing the onslaught at the beginning of the second half, the Celtics blew Dallas out of the water with a 23-6 quarter that completely put the game out of reach. Dallas could not prevent ARS0NAL x from staking claim to the paint, as he outrebounded their entire roster with 13 rebounds through 18 minutes before ending with 15 boards and 22 points.

The Celtics maestro himself, oFAB, wholly won the point guard duel, putting up 21 assists in comparison to a meager eight from Dimez.

Celtics Crossover Gaming will face Boston’s real-life rival in the Philadelphia 76ers Gaming Club later on Saturday, with the winner of that game advancing to THE TURN finals.

 

HED: Blazer5 Drop 95 Points to Stop Knicks’ Run at THE TURN

Blazer5 Gaming routed Knicks Gaming 95-73 in front of the New York home crowd, punching their ticket to THE TURN finals in dominate fashion. Blazer5 broke the single game scoring record in the NBA 2K League, shooting 40-of-62 from the field to go along with 6-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc.

Mama Im Dat Man facilitated this historic game, posting 33 points and 18 assists in the blowout win. Fellow Big 3 member Dat Boy Shotz led all scorers with 36 points while also reaching the double-double mark with 10 rebounds.

Their efforts are even more impressive considering that GRANT MONSTER did not score a single point in this game. One factor that helped Blazer5 come close to the league’s first 100-point game was moving Lavish-phenom to a pure sharpshooter role. He made 4-of-6 three-point attempts during this game, contributing to this red-hot offense as a spot-up shooter.

While Knicks Gaming shot over 50 percent from the field and all but YEYNotGaming scored in double digits, they simply could not keep up with Blazer5 Gaming and their own bevy of offensive options. Their 14 turnovers are partially to blame for their loss, as well as an inability to stop the Blazer5 scoring machine on defense.

Blazer5 will now await the winner of the Celtics Crossover Gaming and 76ers Gaming Club matchup in THE TURN finals to close out Saturday’s slate.

 

HED: Celtics Spoil 76ers Title Defense in 76-69 Win

The NBA 2K League banner will not be completed this season.

76ers Gaming Club lost their opportunity to add THE TURN title next to their victory at THE TIPOFF, as they fell to Celtics Crossover Gaming 76-69.

Interstate-95 rivals Celtics Crossover Gaming and 76ers Gaming Club gave NBA 2K League fans a show for the second TURN semifinals match, as every player scored at least 10 points in a fundamentally sound game of NBA 2K. The two teams skated out to a tie in the first quarter before the Celtics started pulling away in thanks to costly turnovers from the 76ers and second chance points.

MEL East put up 13 points in the half, fighting through Steez and iFEAST in the paint to lead all scorers through 12 minutes. He would end the game with 21 points shooting 10-of-18 from the field.

The 76ers got within four points of the Celtics at the end of the third quarter, but two turnovers in the final two minutes and a Profusion dagger ended their run at THE TURN. He was 4-of-4 from downtown during this game, with his point guard oFAB adding in a three-pointer of his own to go along with 11 points and 20 assists overall.

Although their game was tarnished by their 10 turnovers, the 76ers still shot better from the field than their opponents in a losing effort. Radiant had a solid 20-point, 10-assist performance, right in line with his averages for the season.

 

HED: Blazer5 Gaming Captures THE TURN Title

After falling short during THE TIPOFF to open the season, Blazer5 Gaming have fully exercised their demons here at THE TURN with a big win. Not only did they take down Celtics Crossover Gaming 92-78 in the finals, but they beat every single one of their opponents by double-digits to take home a piece of the 2K League banner.

Their finals match against the Celtics was the perfect exclamation point on what was an impressive all-around performance this weekend. The Big 3 of Mama Im Dat Man, Dat Boy Shotz, and OneWildWalnut outscored and outrebounded the whole Celtics roster, combining for 86 points and 28 rebounds.

Blazer5 Gaming simply outworked their opponents, jumping out to a 22-15 first quarter advantage before pushing the lead to 46-32 at the half. That was enough for them to coast through the second half, defending Celtics Crossover right up until the final whistle.

This game is a good indicator of where the NBA 2K League meta stands, as the strategy of one  pure rim protector at the five was on full display as Blazer5 dominated the paint. That, combined with three players taking sharpshooting archetypes, is currently what leads to high scoring games and tournament victories.

Next week, Blazer5 Gaming will have a major target on their backs during a planned doubleheader, where they will try to extend their 2K League winning streak to 10 by playing 76ers Gaming Club and Heat Check Gaming within a five hour stretch.