Knicks Gaming Rally in Fourth to Upset 76ers GC, 77-70

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Knicks Gaming (3-7) broke their four-game losing streak by putting together a phenomenal 19-7 fourth quarter run on 76ers GC (6-3), upsetting the 3rd ranked team in the league 77-70.

Against 76ers GC, the Knicks Gaming archetypes were all primary sharpshooters outside of GOOFY 757. That included IdrisDaGoat6, who swapped positions with NateKahl and became a sharpshooting shot creating small forward. Despite running four sharpshooters, they struggled from three-point range, ending the game shooting 2-of-7 from downtown.

However, in spacing out the floor, the Knicks allowed GOOFY to work on Steez in the paint, scoring 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting in the first half. He would finish the game with a double-double — 33 points and 11 rebounds — and a 75 percent clip from the field.

Their fresh strategy helped them keep pace with the red-hot 76ers GC, who hit their first 10 out of 11 shots of the game. Knicks Gaming were only down by three points heading into the break, even with 76ers GC shooting close to 74 percent from the field.

After falling into a five-point hole at the end of the third quarter, Knicks Gaming made an 8-2 run to start the fourth, taking advantage of several sloppy passes from 76ers GC to tie the game at 68-68 with under 100 seconds left to play. Using a double team on Radiant after missing a defensive rebound, Knicks Gaming pulled into the lead by way of NateKahl chucking a hail mary to iamadamthefirst who got the and-one bucket. That proved to be the dagger, as 76ers GC only scored two more points in their last few possessions.

Although they shot better from the field, 76ers GC were unable to curb their turnover problem and lost the battle of the boards by three to Knicks Gaming. This loss will send them into the middle of THE TICKET seeding chart.

Meanwhile, Knicks Gaming may have just avoided THE TICKET’s play-in game with their first win of the second regular season trimester. They still have to see if Warriors Gaming Squad lose their final two games before the tournament in order to officially avoid the brutal pre-tournament test, but at the very least, this win will give them some confidence heading into the important mid-season event.

Boo Painter Has a Career Day in Wizards District Gaming Win Against Grizz Gaming

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Boo Painter was an unstoppable force for Wizards District Gaming (5-4) in their 88-78 win against Grizz Gaming (4-5) on Saturday.

The small forward out of Old Dominion played near-perfect basketball as a shot-creating slasher, facilitating the Wizards offense like a true NBA 2K League superstar. Although he allowed his assignment AuthenticAfrican to score 30 points and dish out 12 assists, he had his way with the Grizz Gaming defense, shooting 21-of-26 from the field for 45 points as well as earning the league’s second ever triple-double with 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

Boo did most of his work after the first quarter, as Grizz Gaming trotted out to a three-point lead entering the second. From there, Wizards District Gaming took the lead and never looked back, feeding the ball directly to Boo Painter who either slashed into the paint or dished it out to Demon JT, ReeseDaGod23 or Jin on the wings and perimeter. That trio combined for 41 points — four less than Boo Painter — and collectively shot 7-of-11 from downtown.

On offense, Grizz Gaming failed to keep up with the District Gaming scoring machine, missing 7-of-10 from three-point range while AuthenticAfrican struggled to keep pace. They had more opportunities to score in this game and even won the turnover battle, but unfortunately, it seemed as if it was Boo Painter’s game to lose.

Due to this game, both Wizards District Gaming and Grizz Gaming will settle into the middle of the pack for THE TICKET tournament, as they end the NBA 2K League’s second string of regular season games around the .500 mark.

Warriors Gaming Squad Stun Mavs Gaming, 63-60

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Warriors Gaming Squad (2-6) gave Mavs Gaming (5-4) their third loss in four games with a 63-60 stunner, shooting well enough beyond the arc to win the game by a single possession.

Warriors Gaming started strong in the first quarter, building a 17-8 lead towards the end of the period. That advantage was soon squashed by Mavs Gaming, who cut their deficit to five before putting together a 18-8 second quarter run on the way to halftime. During the second quarter, Mavs Gaming relied on the hot hands of Dayfri to boost their scoring efforts, as he shot 8-of-11 for 16 points in the paint in the first half.

After the break, Warriors Gaming Squad battled back-and-forth with Mavs Gaming, but found themselves down 60-56 with 90 seconds left to play. That’s when Shawn_Win threw in a triple from the corner to cut to lead to one, and Vert blocked BallLikeSeem to force a shot clock violation on the Mavs.

On the next possession, LYKaPro blew by Dimez to get a lay-up for the lead. Dimez attempted the same move on his assignment, but the ball rolled off the rim and ultimately gave LYKAPro another score over the league’s number one draft pick. The Mavs had one last chance to tie the game after and force overtime, but JLB was partially set out of bounds when he received a pass from Dimez and turned the ball over.

Warriors Gaming Squad won the game by way of three-point shooting, using primary sharpshooter archetype on four of their five players shooting a respectable 8-of-15 from downtown. They also shut down Dayfri in the second half to secure the win, only allowing him to score 7 points in those final 12 minutes.

With the loss, Mavs Gaming will most likely be one of the lower seeds at THE TICKET due to their 1-3 performance over the past four weeks of play. Meanwhile, Warriors Gaming Squad took the win into the second shift of their doubleheader week against Raptors Uprising GC.

76ers GC Close Out Their Week 8 Doubleheader On Strong Note

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76ers GC opened Saturday’s afternoon NBA 2K League slate with a 73-69 OT win over Pacers Gaming.

76ers GC (7-3) decided to roll the dice against Pacers Gaming (3-4) by putting Radiant at the small forward position as opposed to his usual spot at point guard. Through the first quarter of this game, it looked as though this would backfire in a big way as the Pacers completely controlled the pace of the game. They were outscored in both quarters and went into the half staring down a 32-26 deficit.

Even from the start of the third quarter, 76ers GC continued looking worse for wear, falling in a 42-29 hole early in the half. From then on, however, 76ers GC stormed back in a major way and it all started with Radiant.

While he wasn’t in his usual spot running the offense from the point, he still did his best to get his teammates going. With both Radiant and ZDS, who was playing as the point guard here, dishing out assists with ease, 76ers GC stormed all the way back to put themselves within four points of Pacers Gaming as the game was winding down. Despite vGooner hitting a clutch three for Pacers Gaming that looked like a dagger with just 40 seconds left, iFEAST answered right back with a big second-chance three pointer to tie the game in the final four seconds of the game. Of course, it was none other than Radiant who secured the key offensive rebound in this possession.

Swizurk had a chance to win the game, but missed a two-pointer at the buzzer as the game crept into overtime. That miss continued to haunt Pacers Gaming into extra time as they only managed six points in the final 3:30 of the game, including overtime. 76ers GC scored 16 points in that same span, which was the difference in this game as Pacers Gaming faltered down the stretch while 76ers GC were as clutch as can be in the end.

For such a highly-contested game, it was no surprise that everyone filled the scoresheet, as eight of the team players tallied double digits by the game’s end. While Radiant ended up leading his team with 24 points and nine assists, it was TuckerLocksUp of the Pacers that led all scorers with 27 points on 13-of-16 shooting. 76ers GC simply brought the thunder from too many angles in this one, as their quartet of ZDS, iFEAST, Radiant, and Newdini combined for 67 points.

Raptors Uprising GC Outlast Warriors Gaming Squad in Close Battle

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Raptors Uprising GC overcame a slow start to pick up an 81-77 win over Warriors Gaming Squad on Saturday afternoon.

Warriors Gaming (1-7) had a chance to move themselves out of the bottom of the 2K League standings with a win against Raptors Uprising (4-6) heading into THE TICKET. It could have moved the Warriors out of last place and, more importantly, out of the dreaded play-in game next week. From the outset, it looked as though they were going to do just that as Vert and LYKaPRO were leading Warriors Gaming to an early 21-12 lead after the first quarter.

Once the second quarter got underway, however, it was off to the races for a furious Raptors Uprising squad who put together a solid three quarters to snuff out Warriors Gaming in this one. The second quarter started a bit rough as Raptors Uprising struggled on the defensive end, but it wasn’t long before they started outpacing Warriors Gaming at every turn. With some blistering three-point shooting in the second half (they finished 12-of-21 from beyond the arc by game’s end), Raptors Uprising had an advantage that led them to victory.

By the time Raptors Uprising took a 59-58 lead into the fourth quarter, all five members had crossed the double-digit threshold as they just couldn’t seem to miss. Try as Warriors Gaming did, they were unable to match Raptors Uprising down the stretch as they picked up the big win.

While LYKaPRO and Vert finished with 23 and 27, respectively, the all-around production from Raptors Uprising was just too much to handle. Whether it was the 20 point & 10 assist double-double from Kenny, the 13 point & 10 rebound double-double from KingQuai614, or the 22-point explosion from TsJosh, Raptors Uprising bested Warriors Gaming when it counted with a 63 percent shooting outing to take home the W.

Magic Gaming Overcome Massive First Half Deficit

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Magic Gaming (4-5) stormed back from a 15-point first half deficit to claim an important 71-68 victory over Jazz Gaming (5-4).

Given a win from either side would have clinched a top-6 seed heading into THE TICKET, the fact Magic Gaming managed to survive what appeared to be an insurmountable deficit in the first half is a feat in itself. Rallying back against a hungry Jazz Gaming squad to actually win the contest is another matter entirely.

It certainly looked bleak in the first half, as Jazz Gaming secured a 15-point lead after the opening 12 minutes thanks to the dynamic duo of Yeah I Compete and MrSlaughter01. The new archetype changes had a profound effect on Jazz Gaming’s starting five, as Compete, the nominal point guard throughout the duration of the NBA 2K League, shifted to small forward while Tifeworld took over at point guard. The decision, which was made in order to give Compete more scoring opportunities without losing too much of his defensive prowess, appeared to be firing on all cylinders, with the first-round pick registering 12 points and six rebounds through two quarters.

But a bevy of turnovers in the third quarter from Jazz Gaming triggered an avalanche of fast break buckets and timely second chance scoring opportunities for Magic Gaming, which ultimately rode a 21-6 scoring wave to essentially even up the game heading into the fourth quarter. From there, it was a relatively even battle as neither team led by more than six points in the final frame. Real life NBA decisions even factored into the play, as the archetype changes opened the door for a “hack-a-Shaq” strategy to creep into the final minutes. Unfortunately, Magic Gaming managed to benefit from the free throw line attempts, as two consecutive fouls on their respective big man yielded four points, forcing Utah to hit a number of difficult shots just to stay in contention. With 1.5 seconds remaining, Jazz Gaming’s quest for overtime fell just short, as a three point attempt at the top of the key clanged off the back of the rim to give Magic Gaming its second win in as many weeks.