No shortage of excitement dominated night two of week nine, which saw Kings Guard Gaming cruise past Pistons GT, 76ers GC upset playoff hopefuls Knicks Gaming, and a NetsGC series that likely pulled the plug on Pacers Gaming’s playoff hopes.
Kings Guard def. Pistons GT 2-0
What Went Right
Unlike most teams, Kings Guard Gaming is comfortable with its lineup and the game plan it wants to execute. Crush and Dat Boy Shotz are seemingly in each other’s heads for defensive coverages. Seemo and Yusuf are two-way monsters who happen to hit almost every open look. Finally, there’s Bash, who’s becoming increasingly confident with each passing week. Regardless of any run the Pistons made, there was never a doubt in the Kings’ mind they would come away with the win.
What Went Wrong
While Pistons GT was able to keep up with the Kings early in both games, a series of turnovers proved to be too costly. In game one, Detroit point guard Demon JT continuously turned the ball over in the half court, unable to make the correct reads. JT wasn’t safe on inbounds either, with Bash constantly harassing him with a full court press. In the next game, it was Ramo’s turn to cough up the ball. Most of these turnovers led to easy transition buckets for the Kings and killed any morale the Pistons had headed into the series.
X-Factor: Perimeter defense
The Kings put on a clinic on the perimeter and made life miserable for the Pistons backcourt for most of the night. Detroit put the ball in LYKaPro’s hands early to avoid Kings’ lock Crush, but when the ball eventually made its way back into Demon JT’s hands, the Kings pounced. Sacramento’s versatility was also on display, with Shotz and Yusuf both showing off their pick and roll defense. The duo of Demon and LYKaPro shot a combined 25% from outside.
76ers GC def. Knicks Gaming 2-1
What Went Right
Radiant. Radiant. More Radiant. 76ers GC’s star point guard finally looks comfortable, pouring in 132 points over three games. Radiant shined especially bright in game three, scoring 54 points on 22/27 shooting while turning the ball over just 3 times. In addition, aside from game two, Breadwinner continues to excel playing the center position. We’ve seen the second-year forward move around the lineup often this season and he may just have found a permanent home down low. That’s three straight series wins for Philly, and while the team’s playoff chances might be next to impossible, they have no problem playing spoiler down the stretch.
What Went Wrong
Knicks Gaming’s defense continues to be its weak spot. Both Duck and Malik were able to produce throughout the series, but the team’s defense allowed an average of 87 points per game, including 105 in the series-deciding third game. When a team has notoriously struggled with its offense all season, it’s never a good sign you’re allowing them to flirt with breaking the scoring record. It’s back to the lab for Duck and co. as the team now sits below .500, again, with little time remaining to make their playoff push.
X-Factor: Steez
Philly’s lockdown scored double-digits in all three contests while also taking on the tough defensive assignment of limiting New York’s talented backcourt. While the season didn’t start well for the third-year Sixer, a move to lockdown has paid off for both Steez and the team.
NetsGC def. Pacers Gaming 2-1
What Went Right
It would be easy to highlight the foul play that occurred at the end of game two, but in the interest of avoiding any halfway measures, we’ll take a timeout or three from that sequence and instead focus on other aspects of the night. Whether or not you’re a fan of NetsGC, it’s become increasingly difficult to put this team away. Brooklyn was down in each of its games tonight—including trailing by double digits in the second half of game three—but continuously put itself in a position to win. Choc was brilliant, especially late in the fourth quarter of the final game. And-1 layups, behind-the-back escapes into threes, and drifting mid range jumpers—the rookie busted out all the tricks tonight.
What Went Wrong
Nothing necessarily went wrong that was in Pacers Gaming’s control. Indiana was simply the victim of a poor situation and horrible timing. There’s a lot to like with Jomar at point guard and Bobby Buckets at center. Pacers Gaming looks like it may finally have the offense to match its high-octane defense. You could argue that Swizurk should’ve passed out to Wolf on the wing on the final possession, but the power forward had Chess on his back in the paint, a scenario Swizurk usually wins.
X-Factor: Shuttles
For the second time this week, Shuttles has dominated and has quickly emerged as an elite center at this stage of the season. Even outside of his stat line of 24 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks in game three, Shuttles’ versatility throughout the series was also on display. In game two, the Nets threw a curve ball at Indiana when they slid Shuttles to power forward and asked him to guard up top. Designed to match him up against opposing power forward Swizurk, this also occasionally required him to play on ball against Pacers’ point guard Jomar. It was fitting that Shuttles also had the series-winning dunk.