Sophia Michaels
We’re now entering our fourth week without any professional sports to keep us occupied, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the globe and has brought most nonessential activities to a standstill. It’s taking some creativity to figure out how to entertain ourselves while confined to our homes.
Fortunately for all you gamers out there, the World Health Organization (WHO) has actually recommended that you stay inside and play video games as a means of both staying connected to friends and keeping your mind active during these stressful and uncertain times.
Now, the folks at NBA 2K and several players around the league are teaming up to bring some semblance of basketball back into our homes with the NBA 2K Tournament that kicked off on Friday night and will continue through the next week, culminating in the championship round on Saturday, April 11.
Friday night’s opening-round action kicked off with No. 16 seed Derrick Jones Jr. and his Bucks upsetting No. 1 seed Kevin Durant and the Clippers, 78-62.
Derrick Jones RJ (Bucks) defeats Kevin Durant (Clippers) 78-62 @Khris22m dominated#NBA2KTourney pic.twitter.com/LsStt5MN94
— NBA Hustle (@Hustle_NBA) April 4, 2020
Despite the loss, KD had one of the highlights of the game when Kawhi Leonard hit Giannis with a mean crossover and bucket.
KD got the crossover going in the #NBA2KTourney 👀 pic.twitter.com/XJm6Xxk2ZP
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 3, 2020
In the second game of the night, Zach LaVine’s Heat fell to Deandre Ayton’s Rockets, 57-41. While the game itself didn’t have many highlights, LaVine explained why he choose not to participate in this year’s dunk contest, saying he felt like he didn’t have anything to prove, although he is somewhat disappointed that he was never able to complete what surely would’ve gone down as one of the greatest dunks of all-time.
Zach Lavine talking about doing a 360 from the free throw line dunk #NBA2KTourney pic.twitter.com/NszEYIXcB9
— NBA Hustle (@Hustle_NBA) April 4, 2020
Ayton’s plan to distract him with idle chit-chat worked wonders as LaVine let his guard down a little bit before he realized it and suddenly found himself trailing.
Lmao Zach Lavine getting angry #NBA2KTourney pic.twitter.com/aNXudfCzET
— NBA Hustle (@Hustle_NBA) April 4, 2020
The third contest of the night pit Harrison Barnes against Trae Young, in a matchup between the Raptors and Bucks, and the best part by far was just how badly Twitter was going in on Barnes for getting drubbed early, despite Young’s relative inexperience.
Let’s see how Harrison Barnes is doing against Trae in 2K …… oh pic.twitter.com/xdb8rYvt9E
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) April 4, 2020
It was a tough night for Barnes, as Young’s Bucks demolished the Raptors, 101-59.
The last game of the night was the most entertaining overall, and it’s no coincidence that it featured Patrick Beverley versus Hassan Whiteside. Prior to tip-off, Beverley was, naturally, feeling pretty confident about his chances, despite being a No. 14 seed in the tournament, claiming that he went 5-6 years straight without losing a 2K game against his Rockets teammates.
Former Hog Patrick Beverly getting interviewed by Hannah Storm of ESPN about playing #NBA2KTourney #wps @4029news 🏀🐗😂 https://t.co/btPO6aFmCG
— Mitch Roberts (@4029Mitch) April 4, 2020
And Beverley lived up to his own hype as he raced out to an early lead and wasn’t shy about letting everyone hear about it.
There goes Pat Bev 😂 pic.twitter.com/UtctbKGNPZ
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) April 4, 2020
Beverley and his Bucks ended up running away with this one, thumping Whiteside’s Lakers by 30.
🎮 @NBA2K Players Tournament 🎮@patbev21 takes it all the way for the @Giannis_An34 flush and says he’s the cheat code!#NBA2KTourney on ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/ewaOatNcc4
— NBA (@NBA) April 4, 2020
Even with Beverley bringing some sorely-needed energy to the tournament, there was decidedly less trash talk throughout than you might have assumed, and overall, the lengthy interludes of dead air were a stark reminder of the heavy lifting the broadcast crew does on any given night, so hopefully 2K will explore some kind of solution to that moving forward.
The winners on Friday will all advance to the second round. First-round action will continue on Sunday with a four-game slate. You can see the full bracket here. The quarterfinals will begin on Tuesday, April 7, followed by the semifinals and finals on Saturday, April 11, all on ESPN and ESPN 2.
Written by: Uproxx
