Post-TURN Power Rankings
July 18, 2021
What did we learn from THE TURN powered by AT&T?
Quite a bit. After a few pleasant surprises and sad affirmations, here is the post-TURN power rankings ahead of Week 7.
The Cream of the Crop
- Wizards District Gaming (14-4)
- Hornets Venom GT (11-5)
- Kings Guard Gaming (11-7)
- T-Wolves Gaming (12-6)
- Grizz Gaming (12-6)
Yes, they fell short in the semifinals of THE TURN, swept by the eventual runner-ups, but if you ask me who the best team in the NBA 2K League is, my answer is still WDG. It’s going to take more than a semifinal loss during a mid-season tournament to knock them out of the top spot.
The big leap in this week’s rankings has Kings Guard Gaming surging to No. 3. Defensively, this team is playing excellent, and their series win over 76ers GC helped validate their play leading up to THE TURN.
Second Tier, But Still Serious
- Pacers Gaming (13-5)
- Blazer5 Gaming (8-8)
- Heat Check Gaming (8-8)
- Jazz Gaming (7-7)
- Nets GC (11-7)
- 76ers GC (9-7)
Blazer5 and Heat Check Gaming both had deep runs in THE TURN, but we can’t move too hastily with the power rankings. It’s a process, and HCG is moving up every week. Their final-four appearance in THE TURN has them up three spots. B5’s finals berth has them up two slots. Pacers Gaming are the biggest sliders this week down four spots after losing in the first round of THE TURN to HCG.
Still With Tons to Figure Out
- Magic Gaming (10-8)
- Pistons GT (9-7)
- Warriors Gaming Squad (8-6)
- Knicks Gaming (9-9)
- Gen.G Tigers of Shanghai (9-9)
We saw some good stuff from Magic Gaming this week, but they’re still missing a crucial piece to help push them into the next tier. Quite honestly, it begins and ends with Reizey. When he takes care of the ball, MG is a tough team to beat. In their 2-1 series loss to Nets GC, Reizey averaged 6.5 turnovers per contest in the losses, while he didn’t turn it over once in the lone victory. His lack of consistency is keeping his team from taking a major step.
Warriors and Bsmoove miss each other…terribly. Neither player nor team seems to be dealing with their new surroundings quite as well as last year when the team made a run to the NBA 2K League Finals. Gen. G Tigers of Shanghai continues to search for better point guard play, despite the fact that Bsmoove is on the roster and likely the best option at the position.
JMoney averaged 5.5 turnovers per-game in the sweep loss to WDG while making just 6 of his 16 three-point attempts.
Warriors Gaming just can’t find the right switch either, as they fell to a patchwork Pistons GT team who seem to be shuttling players on and off their roster more frequently than we’ve seen in league history.
The Lowest Performers in the League
- Mavs Gaming (6-12)
- Celtics Crossover Gaming (6-10)
- Cavs Legion GC (5-13)
- Raptors Uprising (5-13)
- Lakers Gaming (3-13)
- Bucks Gaming (3-13)
- Hawks Talon GC (5-11)
Not one team in the bottom seven of last week’s power rankings won a series during the tournament.
The team with the most noteworthy futility has to be Hawks Talon GC. I don’t understand what has happened to this squad. It feels like they haven’t won a game since Dominique Wilkins was dunking on Larry Bird at The Omni in short-shorts. They had lost eight games in a row heading into the Week 6 bye. With their series-sweep loss at the hands of Knicks Gaming, Wesley Acuff’s team has dropped 10 straight.
The struggle is real.
Brian Mazique is a life-long hoops junkie and a fan of the NBA 2K franchise since its inception in 1999. Professionally, he has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, and has covered sports and video games for the past 15 years for a variety of platforms, including Bleacher Report, Forbes, and Heavy.com. The views on this page are that of this writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA 2K League or its clubs.
