Bucks Gaming fall at first hurdle in The Ticket tournament
By Adam McGee
Bucks Gaming headed to The Ticket tournament hoping to secure a playoff spot, only to crash out at the first hurdle against Heat Check Gaming.
With an up-and-down season so far ensuring that Bucks Gaming will face a real battle, with little margin for error, if they’re to make the NBA 2K League playoffs, they entered the league’s latest tournament with real motivation to muster up their best.
Taking place at Florida’s Full Sail University, The Ticket offers a golden opportunity for teams toward the middle and back of the pack in the league standings.
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Just as the name suggests, the winner of the tournament receives something of a golden ticket that locks up a spot for them in the playoffs.
Last year, it was Knicks Gaming who took advantage of this opportunity, winning The Ticket and rendering a lowly finish in the standings irrelevant as they ultimately went on to claim the league’s inaugural championship.
Unfortunately, any hopes of emulating that feat for Bucks Gaming have been quickly swept away. Competing in the play-in round on Thursday, the Bucks fell at the first hurdle as they were bested by Heat Check Gaming, 68-58.
Considering Heat Check Gaming had lost five consecutive games heading into this week, the result represented a significant upset. In the teams’ sole meeting in the regular season, the Bucks had emerged as dominant winners against the Heat, but the Miami team also eliminated Milwaukee from the Tip-Off Tournament to start off the season.
The secret to Heat Check’s victory on this occasion was their ability to slow down one of the Bucks’ most dynamic scoring threats. Fresh off of winning the league’s Player of the Week award, and in an extended run of excellent form, Plondo found himself shut down by Heat Check Gaming as he only registered seven points on 2-of-7 from the field. Plondo’s struggles also included coughing up seven turnovers.
In spite of an off night for one of their stars, Bucks Gaming did find some resistance in the form of another, as ARooks did all that he could to give his team a chance by pouring in 31 points on 12-of-20 from the field.
No other Buck scored in double digits, though, and that left little Milwaukee could do to match a Heat Check team that boasted four players over that mark, including HotShot with 27 points.
Next. Bucks Gaming return to action with important win over Magic Gaming. dark
The Bucks’ attention must now return to the task at hand of making the playoffs in the more traditional sense. In that regard, their return to action on Friday comes in the form of a crucial double header against the Lakers and Nets.