By Rotowire

Hawks Talon GC picked up its first win in franchise history in a feisty 68-58 win over Celtics Crossover Gaming on Wednesday.

Emotions were running high coming into this matchup, one that had an air of a rivalry game despite this being the first meeting between the two squads. For the Hawks, a team ranked at the bottom of many power rankings after the TIPOFF tournament, powered by AT&T, this was a chance to not only knock off one of the better teams in the league but to help Arsonal get revenge against his old team. Facing his former brothers, Arsonal shined at center, picking up an 18 points, 18 rebound double-double. Third-round rookie Jay a Fool also had a big game, scoring 15 points and keeping league-leading scorer ProFusion to only 18 points on seven shots.

The Hawks took a while to get going, falling behind by four at the end of the first half, but the team managed to pull through thanks to a combined scoring effort. Rookie point guard Rando had 11 points while dishing out five assists and keeping his turnovers low. Former Blazer5 forward Dat Boy Shotz only had sevens, but his four rebounds and assists, along with five steals, helped the rest of this rookie squad shine. After outscoring Celtics by three in the third quarter, Hawks exploded for a 25-14 fourth quarter, sealing the first win in franchise history in uplifting fashion.

The backbreaker for CLTX came thanks to the Hawks’ defense, which smothered point guard oFAB all night. oFAB managed to pick up 23 points and 10 assists, including a few end-game buckets, but his nine turnovers proved to be insurmountable for Celtics Crossover Gaming. oFAB simply couldn’t get up the court cleanly thanks to Hawks Talon running a brutal full-court press on him, leading to a 55-34 edge in shot attempts for the Hawks. Tempers were running high throughout the game, but by the end the Hawks’ coordination on defense and a balanced attack from everyone on the court was enough to pick up a memorable win.

By Rotowire

Warriors Gaming Squad defeated Pistons GT by a score of 66-57 in their first game of the 2K League regular season.

The game started off with Pistons GT taking an early lead, leading by a score of 15-10 after the first quarter. Things were looking up for the Pistons GT in the first half as they met every Warriors Gaming Squad run with a run of their own. The Warriors led by no more than two in the first half and held a one point lead with 10 seconds left. The Pistons hit a three with six seconds remaining, stole a long pass and drilled a buzzer-beating three to maintain their five point lead from the first quarter into half time by a score of 31-26.

The positives were far and few between in the second half for Pistons GT. Warriors Gaming Squad got hot from three-point range and again held a one-point lead with seconds left in the third quarter. It was their turn to hit a late three as a clutch shot by Bsmoove gave the Warriors a 48-44 lead entering the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter began with a 7-0 Warriors run and ended with the Warriors winning by nine. As a team, Warriors Gaming Squad shot 12-of-16 from three compared to 5-of-8 deep shooting from Pistons GT.

Bsmoove dominated for the Warriors, scoring a game-high 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting, including 6-of-8 shooting from three. Pistons GT had no answer for him throughout the first half and his play ultimately opened things up for his teammates in the paint down the stretch.

Pistons GT, on the other hand, were led by iiNsaniTTy, who poured in an efficient 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting while also providing lock down individual defense for much of the game. As a team Pistons GT committed twice as many fouls as Warriors Gaming Squad and couldn’t get past the Warriors suffocating defense in the second half to make a game of it down the stretch.

By Rotowire

Heat Check Gaming took down Knicks Gaming 80-59 in a rematch of last season’s finals on Wednesday.

Early in the game, both teams struggled to score as defense dominated the first quarter. After that, though, the Heat warmed up quickly, scoring at least 20 points a quarter for the rest of the game. After a 20-11 second quarter, Heat Check’s relentless defense locked the Knicks out of the game while prolific scoring from MaJes7ic and JMoneyRep817 kept the game firmly in the Heat’s control. While this matchup was a rematch of last season’s finals, it seemed like a run-of-the-mill stomp for Miami.

The lockdown defense Heat played on the Knicks wasn’t just an incredible effort from shooting guard and pure lockdown defender Lotty. The team rotated well and prevented Knicks star center G O O F Y 7 5 7 from taking control on offense. Each member of Heat Check Gaming managed to pick up at least one steal, with Lotty picking up seven steals and 24K Dropoff and Hotshot each swiping six balls of their own.

All together, the Knicks finished the game with 23 turnovers compared to Heat Check’s eight, but that’s not all the defense did. Knicks point guard iamadamthe1st, instrumental in last year’s incredible playoff run, failed to get into a rhythm in what’s becoming a worrying trend, only scoring five points and dishing out seven assists. G O O F Y 7 5 7 did what he could with 14 points and 17 rebounds, but he finished with 10 turnovers since the rest of the Knicks couldn’t find ways to get going. The Knicks got some help from OriginalMalik’s 17 and Idrisdagoat6’s 23 points, but it simply wasn’t enough to overcome the Heat’s lock on the game.

The Heat only really allowed the Knicks to score in the fourth quarter after padding its lead out to over 20 points. MaJes7ic scored 20 points on efficient shooting while JMoneyRep817 took home player of the game honors with a 24-point effort. Heat Check Gaming should give the rest of the league some concern at this point, as they are firing on all cylinders offensively, have shown great ability to lock down opposing stars, and are only improving with a solid coaching staff behind it.

By Rotowire

Bucks Gaming might have set NBA 2K League history in a dominating 80-57 victory over T-Wolves Gaming to conclude Wednesday’s Week 1 regular season action.

That’s what happens when a team makes 17-of-26 from three-point land, 15 of which came through three quarters when the game was still competitive. While it’s unclear whether Bucks Gaming truly set an NBA 2K League record for most three pointers made in a game, Arooks certainly set a 2019 mark, passing Celtics Crossover Gaming’s Profusion with seven made three-pointers in a single contest.

It’s easy to attribute the massive win margin to Bucks Gaming’s three-point prowess, but the real story might have been the interesting change to their starting lineup, which saw Arook and Chaddynick slide down to small forward and shooting guard, respectively, while SlayIsland manned the point guard position.

Chaddynick looked overmatched at point guard during portions of THE TIPOFF, powered by AT&T, particularly in Bucks Gaming’s ugly quarterfinal loss to Heat Check Gaming so it’s particularly interesting to note how successful Milwaukee was at moving the ball with SlayIsland at PG. 13 turnovers will likely be viewed as a bit of an eyesore in an otherwise stellar game for the Bucks, but eight of those gaffes did come in the fourth quarter when both teams were essentially playing “street” 2K.

A 15-2 run by Bucks Gaming to start the third quarter – with every point coming from three – essentially capsized any hope at T-Wolves Gaming mounting a comeback. Milwaukee would go on to finish the third quarter with 21 made field-goal attempts, 15 of which came from deep.

Arooks’ 32 points will draw the most headlines, but the likes of BigMeek (20 points on 8-of-12 shooting) and SlayIsland (13 points on 5-of-9 from the field) were also impactful, with the duo combining to score 31 of the team’s 60 points through three quarters.

For T-Wolves Gaming, it was another difficult contest for a backcourt duo that pundits figured would be among the most difficult to solve entering the season. While Hood and BearDaBeast would each finish in the double-digits, the latter was held to just seven points through 18 minutes, while the former made less than 50 percent of his attempts from the field.