After a winless opening week, Milwaukee Bucks’ affiliate Bucks Gaming beat Knicks Gaming on Thursday to wrap up a perfect Week 2 and return to .500 overall.
Following a strong showing in picking up their first win of the season on Tuesday night against Cavs Legion GC, the Milwaukee Bucks’ NBA 2K League affiliate, Bucks Gaming returned to action on Thursday.
Matching up against Knicks Gaming, the league’s inaugural champions who opened up their season with a win over Heat Check Gaming on Wednesday, the Bucks essentially picked up right where they left off.
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Even some technical difficulties forcing a delay to the game’s start time couldn’t throw Bucks GG out of their rhythm, particularly as rookie point guard Regg continued to build on his roaring start to his 2K League career.
The Bucks came sprinting out of the blocks with a 23-10 first quarter showing, and even with some fight shown by the Knicks in the second, it was Milwaukee who held a six-point lead at the half.
Outside of Regg putting on an offensive clinic, the story of the game was just how well rounded the Bucks’ effort was from all five starters.
Squidris continued to absolutely dominate the glass at center, but offered much more than just rebounding as he enjoyed a revenge game against his former team. A final tally of eight points, 22 rebounds, eight assists, and four blocks represented a great effort from the former champion with the Knicks.
Plondo (14 points, three rebounds, three steals, two assists, two blocks), Arooks (12 points, two assists), and Ty (eight points, five assists, three rebounds, two steals) also played their part, but it was Regg who was, again, most influential in driving the Bucks to an 83-69 victory in Game 1.
The Bucks’ point guard did suffer from some turnover issues, racking up four in the first quarter, en route to nine overall, but that was the only blemish as he poured in 41 points on 17-of-25 from the field, including, 5-of-9 from deep, while also adding in nine assists. If anything, Regg’s performance was made all the more impressive by the fact he didn’t rest on Tuesday’s success, switching to a Scoring Machine archetype in the Bucks’ only change on Thursday, and kicked on all the same.
The Bucks didn’t start Game 2 against the Knicks quite as smoothly, as New York got out to a 9-0 run. But where that may have led to panic last week, the Bucks remained calm and kept plugging away.
By the time the half came around, the Bucks trailed by just one point, and then the second half gave way to a three-point shooting clinic from Milwaukee.
As the Bucks prevailed with a 84-67 victory, only Squidris at center failed to make at least three triples in a Milwaukee jersey.
Regg didn’t quite manage the same efficiency as in the first game, but still drove his team forward with 30 points, 10 rebounds, four assists. Arooks continued to find his shooting groove, racking up 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 4-of-5 from deep. Squidris continued to own the interior with 15 points, 18 rebounds, and five blocks. While both Plondo and Ty proved deadly from the corners with 14 points and nine points, respectively, and only one combined make that wasn’t a three.
With a sweep of the Knicks, the Bucks completed a perfect recovery in Week 2, and moved back to .500 in the standings overall.
Next up is a meeting with Blazer5 Gaming, following a bye week next week.