Franchise history for Wizards District Gaming and league history for Bucks Gaming marked night two of week eight of the NBA 2K League season, while Magic Gaming’s lineup change proved superior to that of 76ers GC and Jazz Gaming kept pace for the second seed.
Wizards District Gaming def. Cavs Legion GC 2-1
What Went Wrong
What went wrong? According to Dayfri, it’s that Cavs Legion GC had to beat Wizards District Gaming twice to claim a series win, and he’s not wrong. While the Cavs managed to rout Washington in game two, they were on the receiving end of a pair of blowouts in games one and three. In their lone win, both Strainer (37 points, 11 assists, 71% shooting) and Doza (17 points at a 57% clip) shot efficiently and poured in consistent offensive production. In their two losses, both failed to shoot above 50% and the consistency disappeared.
What Went Right
Forever and always, whatever goes right during Wizards games always starts on the defensive end. Cavs Legion struggled to reach the 60-point mark in each loss, averaging 52 points per contest as the Washington defense was suffocating. On the other end, JBM managed to minimize turnovers and run a clean halfcourt offense in both wins. Dayfri posted averages of 15.6 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in the team’s eight win of the season, which has already eclipsed the team’s mark from last season and ties the franchise record just nine games into the season.
X-Factor: Newdini
Newdini is just an elite role player. Period. He does his job, keeps quiet, and never misses an assignment. In fact, if you watch him closely—especially on the defensive end—you’ll notice he’s the security blanket in most situations. Newdini is the reason Dayfri can gamble on a passing lane steal, or jump for a block in the paint—he knows his power forward has his back at all times.
Magic Gaming def. 76ers GC 2-1
What Went Wrong
After a convincing win in game one, where 76ers GC won by 25 with its new lineup, 76ers GC dropped two straight. With Breadwinner on a paint beast at the four, TuckerLocksUp at the customary center build, and Steez rocking the two-way finisher, this team’s gameplan was a throwback to the pre-patch season one days. While the mashing worked in game one, Magic Gaming had obviously figured it out by game two, as the 76ers dropped both contests by double-digits. The lack of spacing allowed Orlando’s defense to key in on Radiant, as his 45% field goal percentage showed.
What Went Right
It was really the Reizey-May show in virtual Orlando all night long. Reizey rocked the Dimez archetype yesterday evening, moving to shooting guard but maintaining the primary ball-handling duties, and he was excellent doing so. The reigning rookie of the year averaged 36 points and 10 assists on 60% shooting, and willed his team to the reverse sweep. May—who has hung on to the center role despite DT’s return—recorded his first career triple-double with 11 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists in the team’s series-sealing game three win.
X-Factor: Mid-Range specialist?
We’ve seen Orlando run a similar lineup before, with Reizey sliding over to the two and Djbama playing the one. Once again, it wasn’t a demotion, as Reizey has never lost his primary ball-handling assignment. The main difference this time: Djbama played on a midrange specialist, which has the Hall of Fame floor general badge, perhaps just the boost SG Reizey needed.
Bucks Gaming def. Celtics Crossover Gaming 2-0
What Went Wrong
For starters, Celtics Crossover Gaming’s defense allowed the most points ever scored in a game (110), as Regg and Arooks went wild during their first contest (and really all series long). Boston’s lineup lacks impact players to surround their superstar, and it’s obvious while watching. Fab can only do so much, especially this year, where it’s apparent that a strong starting five is a must. Gone are the days where a superstar can will his team to the playoffs all by himself. The top teams around the league are strong one through five with no liabilities, and Boston just isn’t that right now.
What Went Right
Just about everything went right in game one. Regg and Arooks combined to score 84 points in the first contest, while the Celtics starting five recorded 55 in total. Whew. Bucks Gaming repeatedly went on 6-0 or 8-0 runs in fewer than 60 seconds, and it was those runs that allowed them to dismantle a 14-point Boston lead in game two. Not only did they get rid of the double-digit deficit, they built one of their own, winning by 14 after another late-quarter spurt.
X-Factor: Turnovers + pace
It’s hard to really pinpoint one area. Other than the first quarters of game two, Bucks Gaming continuously forced turnovers and commanded the pace of the game. Boston turned the ball over 25 (!) times in game one alone, and the Bucks went for 110, besting the previous single-game scoring of 109.
Jazz Gaming def. Hawks Talon GC 2-1
What Went Wrong
Well, it’s never convenient for your lead ball-handler to break his hand; we can start with that. Broken hand or not, and it was clearly not the BP we’re accustomed to seeing: BP struggled mightily last night. The star point guard, albeit with an injury, posted a few abysmal performances, shooting 50% or under in all three contests and recording 19 turnovers during the series.
What Went Right
Hawks Talon GC’s gameplan was clear: “make Lotty beat us” could be heard from their side of communications during the broadcast. In return, Jazz Gaming’s shooting guard was nominated as a top performer for the night, averaging 16 points and 3 assists per contest. In addition, after being outmatched in game one, Ria picked up his play and posted double-doubles in both wins, including 6 steals and 5 blocks during those games. Like fellow two-seed contestant Wizards DG, Jazz Gaming is now 8-1 after matching its franchise-high in wins last night, and the two will clash tonight in a matchup with almost everything on the line.
X-Factor: Three-point shooting
The team that made more three-pointers won each game. Hawks Talon managed to shoot 8/16 from range in its lone win, keeping pace with Utah. Over the next two, however, the Hawks combined to shoot 10/26 from three-point range, while Utah exceeded those 10 threes with 11 in game two alone.
