Raptors Uprising breeze by defending NBA 2K League champs T-Wolves Gaming at THE TURN
July 24, 2020
TORONTO, Canada—Statement win.
The undefeated Raptors Uprising GC made light work of the defending NBA 2K League Champions, sweeping T-Wolves Gaming (2-0) series Friday evening to advance to the semifinals of THE TURN Tournament, powered by AT&T.
No Archetype bans were slowing down Raptors Uprising on this occasion as one through five—with $10,400 USD on the line—the team once again rose to the moment.
Per THE TURN “Archetype Ban” rules, prior to tipoff, both teams named two archetypes each that could not be used throughout the best-of-three series.
Raptors Uprising General Manager Shane Talbot elected to hinder T-Wolves Gaming’s two biggest offensive threats—prohibiting the archetypes of 2019 NBA 2K League Finals MVP BearDaBeast and shooting guard Big Saint—while Minnesota, taking notes from Raptors Uprising’s last matchup, banned KennyGotWork and Timelycook’s go-to archetypes.
Unfortunately for T-Wolves Gaming, who were seeing the Raptors Uprising juggernaut for the first time in 2020, their fate would still be in line with the rest of the league: flood victims.
Much like Toronto did in their Round of 16 win over Gen.G Tigers of Shanghai on Thursday, Raptors Uprising would blow Game 1 wide open in the second quarter, outscoring Minnesota 21-10 in the frame to carry a 15-point lead into halftime.
ReeceMode, the sharpshooting rookie from Chicago, would be the one to step up for his side this time around, scoring 16 of Toronto’s 36 first-half points, starting the game a perfect four-for-four from downtown.
T-Wolves Gaming’s BearDaBeast and Big Saint, meanwhile, struggled on their new archetypes, turning the ball over four times and chipping in with just 11 points on five-for-12 shooting from the floor.
From the parking lot.@ReeceMode_ | #RTZ2K pic.twitter.com/rCFgyn8sU8
— x-Raptors Uprising GC (@RaptorsGC) July 24, 2020
Coming out of the break, the red-hot ReeceMode would continue to be patient, waiting for his shot; and, when he got his opening, he’d continue to make the T-Wolves pay, knocking down his fifth three-pointer of the game moments into the third quarter to put Raptors Uprising up by 21, virtually sucking the life out of the defending NBA 2K League champions. The Raptors Uprising rookie would finish the contest with 22 points and three steals on a perfect six-for-six shooting from downtown.
The fourth quarter, however, belonged to his backcourt partner Kenny Got Work, who looked content and relaxed on his unusual player build. The unanimous front runner for the 2020 NBA 2K League MVP award poured in 20 points in the final frame to finish with a game-high 31 as Raptors Uprising would take Game 1 (77-50).
Following his lights-out performance in Game 1, heading into Game 2, T-Wolves Gaming elected to bar ReeceMode from using his “3-Level Scorer” archetype.
And while the rookie would go quiet, the choice would make little difference in the final outcome, as Kenny Got Work would pick up where he left off.
Fresh off a 51-point outing in the Round of 16, the dynamic point guard would score 11 points in the opening three minutes of the contest as Toronto jumped out to an early 16-3 lead, setting the tone early on. They’d carry a 35-29 lead into halftime on the back of 20 first-half Kenny points.
Following a back-and-forth third quarter, T-Wolves would claw back into the game late, actually making it a two-possession game with seconds left to play.
However, a chase-down Timelycook block with 17 seconds left on the clock would secure the win for Toronto as free throws from Kenny Got Work put this one to bed. Raptors Uprising would take Game 2 (62-58).
GET THAT GAHHHHHBAGE OUTTA HERE pic.twitter.com/YCXr3oW5zA
— x-Raptors Uprising GC (@RaptorsGC) July 24, 2020
Kenny ended up with 32 points, while power forward Legit 973 finished the game with 13 points and six rebounds, knocking down a few clutch three’s from the corner.
“It was a full team effort tonight,” said Legit 973 after the game. “Final four!”
With the win, Raptors Uprising secure themselves a tidy $22,100 USD and a spot in Saturday’s final four.
Big bag on the line, everybody stepped up when we needed em, who got tonight's @OntarioLottery Game Ball from @KennyGotWork? pic.twitter.com/lAwNp1PwC3
— x-Raptors Uprising GC (@RaptorsGC) July 24, 2020
The final four teams are still competing for a share of $260,000 USD—the largest prize pool in league history. The winner of THE TURN will earn nearly half of the prize pool, with the remainder being awarded to the second- to eighth-place teams (first place – $117,000; second place – $52,000; third and fourth place – $22,100 each; fifth to eighth place – $11,700 each).
THE TURN is also the second tournament of the year. After capturing THE TIPOFF Tournament in June, Raptors Uprising—unbeaten in their last 22 matchups in all competition—will try on Saturday to become the first team in NBA 2K League history to win the first two tournaments of the year. Will they be able to finish off what they started?
UP NEXT: Set your alarm clocks! It’s an unusual early game on Saturday afternoon, as Raptors Uprising will play the winner of Warriors Gaming Squad (No. 4 seed) and Kings Guard Gaming (No. 5 seed) in THE TURN semifinals with tipoff set for 1 p.m. EST. If Toronto is able to get the win, they’ll play in the finals later in the afternoon. As always, Fans can watch THE TIPOFF Tournament in its entirety via the Twitch Command Center, which is available on the NBA 2K League’s Twitch channel. The competition will also be available on Sportsnet and ESPN’s digital platforms, plus streamed on the league’s YouTube channel.