It was a busy Saturday for Bucks Gaming at The Turn as they beat Kings Guard Gaming in the quarterfinals, before falling to 76ers GC in the semifinals.
Bucks Gaming’s massive improvement this season was on display once again as they took part in the final day of The Turn, the NBA 2K League’s latest midseason tournament, in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Milwaukee’s regular season record was good enough to ensure their seeding earned them a bye for the play-in round, and then a Friday win over Raptors Uprising GC saw the Bucks advance through to the quarterfinals.
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Lying in wait was Kings Guard Gaming, as the fourth seeded Bucks looked to live up to that billing in working their way through to the semifinals.
With archetype bans in effect at The Turn, the Bucks and Kings were both able to nominate one archetype each that would be taken out of play. As a result, Lockdown Defender and Sharpshooting Rim Protector were banned. Most obviously, that resulted in a change in archetype for Chaddynick.
As a result, the Bucks starting lineup was as follows:
PG- SlayIsland (Shot Creating Slasher)
SG – Chaddynick (Two Way Slasher)
SF – ARooks (Shot Creating Sharpshooter)
PF – BigMeek (Slashing Stretch 4)
C – Plondo (Pure Glass Cleaner)
That archetype change was designed to reduce the defensive pressure the Bucks could apply on key Kings players, but as the game got underway it was quickly apparent that slowing down Milwaukee’s offense would have been a better move for the Kings.
A well-rounded first quarter effort saw SlayIsland, Plondo, ARooks and BigMeek all get in on the scoring to open up a 15-8 Milwaukee advantage.
Chaddynick also got in on the act with a strong dunk in the second quarter, while ARooks and Plondo continued their own outstanding offensive play in leading the Bucks forward. A second quarter where the Bucks extended their lead to 31-22 only illustrated how comfortable they were in controlling the contest.
A slower third period saw the Bucks give up a little ground, although they were helped by two important midrange jump shots from SlayIsland to keep the lead at 8 heading into the final period.
A determined Kings team did all that they could to fight for their lives in the final quarter, but ARooks took over to score 11 of the Bucks’ 13 points in the period, and knock down three triples, to seal a 55-51 victory.
Waiting in the semifinals for the Bucks were tournament specialists 76ers GC, who had defeated Celtics Crossover Gaming in their own quarterfinal matchup earlier in the day.
This time around the archetype ban took small forward (sharpshooting shot creator), and power forward (sharpshooting rim) out of commission. The Sixers’ decision to target SF (sharpshooting shot creator) forced Milwaukee into moving ARooks to the 2 to play with his preferred build, while Chaddynick moved up to the 3 as a Lockdown Defender.
PG – SlayIsland (Shot Creating Slasher)
SG – ARooks (Sharpshooting Shot Creator)
SF – Chaddynick (Lockdown Defender)
PF – BigMeek (Slashing Stretch 4)
C – Plondo (Pure Glass Cleaner)
From the opening tip it was clear just how competitive the game was going to be, but from a Milwaukee perspective the good news was the positional shift was doing nothing to throw ARooks out of his usual rhythm early on. ARooks had 10 of Milwaukee’s 12 first quarter points as the Sixers started out with a 13-12 lead.
The second continued in a similar vein with ARooks remaining effective, but it was Plondo who really stepped up his game to offer the team another focal point. Plondo grabbed 11 points in the period, while when SlayIsland drained a jumper with 37 seconds left until half time, it marked the first non Plondo/ARooks Bucks points of the game. A 30-29 Bucks advantage at the half left everything to play for.
Plondo and ARooks continued to drive Milwaukee forward in the third quarter, briefly opening up a two-possession lead before the Sixers responded. A three-pointer from BigMeek was much needed for the Bucks, and played a significant role in keeping the game tied at 45-45 with one quarter remaining.
Unfortunately for Milwaukee, a flat start in the fourth quarter took all of the wind out of their sails. A 6-0 Sixers run to begin the period was a hammer blow to a Bucks team that could almost reach out and touch the finals, and it was one they never really recovered from. In spite of 26 points from Plondo, and 23 from ARooks, the Bucks fell 62-54.
The 76ers would go on to lose the final to Warriors Gaming Squad.
Bucks Gaming will be back in action and hoping to build on their strong start to the regular season this week, with Kings Guard Gaming on the schedule for Thursday and Wizards District Gaming up on Friday.