It was a big night for Bucks Gaming, the Milwaukee Bucks’ NBA 2K League affiliate, as they toppled the formidable Jazz Gaming in a thrilling series.
After losing to a rival in the thick of the playoff race on Tuesday night, Bucks Gaming bounced back in phenomenal fashion on Thursday.
Finding themselves at 5-5 in the standings, the margin for error is increasingly small for the Bucks if they want to make the postseason, which is not the kind of thing that any team would want to hear ahead of a matchup with Jazz Gaming.
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One of the league’s truly elite and star-studded squads, Utah entered play on Thursday with a formidable 9-1 record, with their only defeat to date coming against a similarly talented Kings Guard Gaming team.
In other words, the Bucks looked to be facing an uphill climb to bounce back.
But as has been demonstrated multiple times already this season, Bucks Gaming should never be written off, and on their day they’re completely capable of not just sticking with but beating the best of the best.
A tight and hotly-contested opening game of the three-game series certainly made it clear that this would be a real battle for both teams, although the Bucks could have been forgiven for letting their heads drop just a little as they came out on the losing side in the opener.
On that same front, though, the Bucks rallied hard to get themselves within range of the Jazz late in Game 1, and although that ultimately counted for nothing in a 71-67 defeat, the momentum it provided Milwaukee can’t be overlooked in what came next.
To begin with, the Bucks continued to stay right on the Jazz’s tail through Game 2, thanks in part to a phenomenal effort from Regg. Still, trailing by four points heading into the fourth quarter, and falling down by seven early in that final period, the Bucks found themselves on course to be on the wrong end of a quick but highly competitive sweep.
With winning a must, the Bucks were able to dig deep, though. Leading by four with 16.9 seconds remaining. It was then a real sucker punch for Milwaukee to find themselves tied up with 3.9 to go, as Lotty drilled a game-tying triple to bring back bad memories of the game-winner that Choc made against them for the Nets on Tuesday.
Showing great resilience, the Bucks weren’t done, though. Following a monumental performance all game long, Regg came up with an And-1 with just 0.6 seconds remaining to send the series to a decider, and finish out the game with an outstanding line of 48 points, seven assists, and five steals.
A game-winning AND 1 from @ReggieNashJR to force a GAME 3 🔥🔥🔥
— Bucks Gaming (@BucksGG) July 10, 2020
Regg finished with 48 PTS 7 AST 5 STL pic.twitter.com/Nl7EiiLoGJ
From there, there was no looking back as the two teams played out another incredibly close game. On this occasion, though, it was the Bucks who seemed to be holding the initiative for large spells, and that wasn’t something that they would let slip even with the pressure so significant in the fourth quarter.
Regg again proved phenomenal posting a 20-20 game with 26 points and 20 assists, with Plondo coming up big with 24 points and 14 rebounds too.
With the victory, the Bucks moved to 6-5 and into ninth place in the standings; i.e. the final playoff spot excepting the one that will go to The Ticket winner.
Next up is another tough week of games as the Bucks will play Warriors Gaming Squad on Wednesday, followed up by Kings Guard Gaming on Thursday.