Lakers Gaming and Heat Check Gaming emerged with 2-1 victories on Thursday to advance to their respective conference finals in the NBA 2K League’s The Tipoff tournament.
In a Western Conference semifinal match, the Lakers sandwiched 75-69 and 69-65 wins over Warriors Gaming Squad around a 65-56 loss in the middle game of the best-of-three series.
The Heat came from behind to top Knicks Gaming in an Eastern Conference semifinal series. After the Knicks cruised to a 75-40 win in the opening game, the Heat took the next two games 67-65 and 59-50.
The Lakers will meet the winner of the second West semifinal, which will see Mavs Gaming face T-Wolves Gaming on Friday. Next up for the Heat will be the winner of the Friday semifinal in the East, the Gen.G Tigers vs. 76ers GC.
The conference finals and the grand final, all scheduled for Saturday, will be best-of-three.
Arshia “Krazy” Karimi put up double-doubles for the Lakers in all three games on Thursday, averaging 16.7 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Charlie “CB13” Bostwick averaged 21.7 points and 10 assists for the Warriors.
The Heat’s Alex “Bsmoove” Reese scored 31 points in the decisive game and wound up averaging 21.7 points on the night. Malik “OriginalMalik” Hobson contributed 24.3 points per game for the Knicks.
The NBA 2K League season will run through August, with the focus on tournament play and qualifying events for tournaments. The traditional five-on-five tournaments are The Tipoff (season opener), The Turn (midseason) and The Ticket (late season).
The league is also adding a number of three-on-three tournaments that will lead up to a three-on-three championship featuring a separate prize pool.
–Field Level Media
