Recapping the final four of the 2020 Turn Tournament, which was won by—who else?—Raptors Uprising GC. KennyGotWork—again, who else?—was named tournament MVP for the second straight tournament.
Raptors Uprising GC (1) def. Kings Guard Gaming (5) 2-1
Game One: Raptors Uprising GC 72 – 60 Kings Guard Gaming
Game Two: Raptors Uprising GC 58 – 73 Kings Guard Gaming
Game Three: Raptors Uprising GC 63 – 56 Kings Guard Gaming
Top Performers:
SickOne: 20 points, 12 rebounds per game
Yusuf_Scarbz: 23 points, 20 rebounds per game (2 games)
If there’s a blueprint to beating Raptors Uprising GC, Kings Guard Gaming may be close to cracking the code. A Sacramento lineup change after game one changed the series. Yusuf, who famously already defends the pick-and-roll as a power forward, slid over to center for the final two games, and he was dominant.
Not only did Kings Guard win game two, but they managed to steal host with point differential as well. This was the first time all season the Raptors weren’t all smiles during the live team look-ins. With momentum—and connection—in their favor, Sacramento pushed MVP frontrunner Kenny and his undefeated Raps teammates to the absolute last minute, nearly advancing to the Turn’s final round. It really all came down to one sequence:
Kenny (19 points, 11 assists per game) held the ball patiently, received a SickOne screen, took one dribble back and caught a sleeping corner defender. TimelyCook greened the three and Toronto pushed its lead to 7 with just 30 seconds remaining. Bash (21 points, 11 assists per game) threw a lob that never found Yusuf’s hands, the Raptor defense pounced, and before we knew it Raptors GC was nearly ahead by double-digits. On to the finals.
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I live for the big moment🗣
Wizards District Gaming (3) def. Jazz Gaming (2) 2-1
Game One: Wizards District Gaming 55 – 59 Jazz Gaming
Game Two: Wizards District Gaming 75 – 65 Jazz Gaming (OT)
Game Three: Wizards District Gaming 84 – 47 Jazz Gaming
Top Performers:
Dayfri: 13 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocks per game
Ria: 15 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks per game
After a pair of tightly-contested games that included entertaining back-and-forth action, this series ended in a game three blowout.
Gradient tweeted out that today’s slate featured ‘4 of the top 5 centers’ in the league, and this matchup had the top two. It was a battle in the trenches between a member of the original 102 and last year’s No. 1 overall selection, and Dayfri proved victorious this time around after coming up short in the regular-season series between these two teams.
After struggling in the series opener, this season’s No. 1 overall pick JBM thrived in the final two games, including 30 points, 11 assists, and 3 steals on 11-for-14 shooting in game two. $260,000 is a motivator:
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260K vibes in case y’all forgot pic.twitter.com/ubXoOvzvKD
Raptors Uprising GC (1) def. Wizards District Gaming (3) 2-0
Game One: Raptors Uprising GC 56 – 51 Wizards District Gaming
Game Two: Raptors Uprising GC 54 – 51 Wizards District Gaming
Top Performers:
KennyGotWork: 26 points, 4 assists, 2 steals per game
Dayfri: 13 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks per game
After Kenny looked uncomfortable off his Scoring Machine archetype, Wizards DG nonetheless opted not to ban Kenny’s favorite build. Instead, ReeceMode’s Three-Level Scorer was barred from use, with Washington’s other bans being used to ban the widely-used Glass Cleaner and as a placeholder to preserve Dayfri’s preferred archetypes.
Wizards District Gaming carried a two-point lead into halfitme of game one, even prevented a patented insane Toronto third quarter, but the final frame would belong to Raptors Uprising GC. Similar to the events in their previous Sacramento series, Raptors Uprising simply got the stops and buckets when needed down the stretch.
Game two featured a tightly contested defensive battle. Buckets were far and few in between and all 24 minutes were a grind. The Raptors made their run in the third quarter, as they usually do, going up double-digits. It seemed Toronto would smoothly coast to another tournament victory, but Wizards District Gaming went on a run of its own, narrowing the Raptors lead to just one point.
JBM got a clean look, hoisting a three-point crab attempt off of a Dayfri screen, but no good as the infamous straight arm animation popped up. The shot clanked off the side of the rim and into a Raptors rebound, pretty much sealing Washington’s fate. A last-second three point shot off the inbound was blocked and the team north of the border won the Turn.
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Congrats to @RaptorsGC, the champs of THE TURN Powered by @ATT!! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/EoRL5ENgOg
