Bucks Gaming advance to second round of The Turn in Las Vegas

As the NBA 2K League’s latest tournament got underway in Las Vegas, Bucks Gaming booked their spot in the quarterfinals with a win over Raptors Uprising GC.

After a sensational start to the NBA 2K League regular season, Bucks Gaming had every reason to feel confident entering the second tournament event of the year.

That fast start ensured the Bucks entered The Turn, which is taking place in Las Vegas rather than the usual New York City studio, as the fourth seed and with a real chance of making some noise.

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That seeding also guaranteed the Bucks avoided a play-in round that the lower seeds were forced to work through, meaning Milwaukee’s campaign in Vegas got underway on Friday night in the first round.

Bucks GG’s opponent was a familiar one, as they matched up again with Raptors Uprising GC, who Milwaukee defeated by 27 points just last week.

Still, there was room for a potential upset due to some rules quirks added into the mix for The Turn.

Milwaukee’s starting lineup and archetypes of choice have been the picture of consistency to date, but for every game in The Turn, both teams are allowed to nominate one archetype each to be banned from use. The result was SlayIsland’s usual Sharpshooting Playmaker and Plondo’s preferred Pure Glass Cleaner being out of commission.

With that taken into account, Bucks GG’s starting five was as follows:

PG – SlayIsland (Shot Creating Slasher)

SG – Chaddynick (Pure Lockdown Defender)

SF – ARooks (Shot Creating Sharpshooter)

PF – BigMeek (Slashing Stretch 4)

C – Plondo (Sharpshooting Rebounder)

Any hope that the Raptors may have had of those adjustments throwing Bucks GG off their game were quickly extinguished once the game got underway, though.

Assisted by a barrage of Raptors’ turnovers straight from the opening tip, the Bucks had no problem in racking up easy points early on. Chaddynick got in on the act early with a dunk and a three-pointer, ARooks was his dominant self at the rim and from beyond the arc, and Plondo was actually taking advantage of his archetype ban by draining triples. At the the end of the first quarter, Bucks GG held an impressive 23-7 lead.

Unsurprisingly, the Raptors came out looking much better in the second quarter, in particular when it came to taking care of the ball. Still, they couldn’t make the kind of inroads they’d undoubtedly have liked as the Bucks remained on their game from three-point range. Outside of a Chaddynick dunk, all of Milwaukee’s points in the period came from triples, with ARooks knocking down three and Plondo adding one of his own. A 37-27 lead still offered Milwaukee a meaningful cushion at the half.

Coming out for the second half, the Bucks managed to turn things up a notch once again, though. Remaining hot from three-point range, and with ARooks particularly in rhythm, Milwaukee stretched their lead out to 59-43 by the end of the period.

To have any chance of a comeback, the Raptors would need to shut the Bucks’ offense down completely, and they at least gave themselves a chance. With just over 90 seconds remaining, the lead was back to single digits. Fortunately for the Bucks, BigMeek, who had been a little quiet up until that point was on hand to seal the deal. Knocking down two triples and a mid-range jumper late, Big Meek helped the Bucks to seal a 72-62 victory and advance to the second round.

https://twitter.com/NBA2KLeague/status/1127012411670781952

ARooks was the undoubted star of the show with 29 points, including seven triples, but Plondo was equally influential with his all-around contributions of 11 points, 11 rebounds, five steals, four assists and a block. Beyond that, Milwaukee’s team defense was sensational, amassing 17 steals in total, with each of SlayIsland, ARooks and Plondo grabbing at least four each.

Next up for the Bucks will be a quarterfinal matchup with Kings Guard Gaming at 3pm CT on Saturday afternoon, with a semifinal against 76ers GC or Celtx Gaming up for grabs for the winner.