T-Wolves Gaming and 76ers GC square off in the NBA 2K League Finals. A point guard battle between BearDaBeast and Radiant will determine the 2019 champion.
After 12 weeks of regular-season action and three in-season tournaments, the NBA 2K League Finals have arrived. T-Wolves Gaming will take on 76ers GC in what will be a best-of-five series taking place Saturday.
At the end of the night, the second-ever league champions will be crowned. But who will lead their team to victory on the leagues biggest stage? Here’s what you can expect from an action-packed day at the NBA 2K League studios in Brooklyn.
76ers GC
Philadelphia has been a favorite to make a deep playoff run since the beginning of the season. They had the NBA 2K League championship in their sights and they had the tools to go after it.
Last year they lost in the semifinals to Heat Check Gaming and came back this season looking to shred each and every opponent that stood in their way. The Sixers have everything it takes to compete at a championship level, and it may be coming together at just the right time.
Jeff Terrell ended the regular season with the Coach of the Year award in his grasp. Although he downplayed the feat, it goes to show he’s prepped his team better than almost every coach out there.
The team maintained poise and professionalism throughout the entire season and an 11-5 record which was good for the third seed in the playoffs behind Blazer5 Gaming and Mavs Gaming.
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Philadelphia has won the Tip-Off Tournament two years in a row and the credit has to be given to coach Terrell since this tournament is the first action any players see to start each season.
What pairs really well with the Coach of the Year? An All-NBA 2K League performer! Radiant is fourth in the league in points per game (20) and third in the league in assists per game (11).
One of the few premiere dribblers the league has to offer who can get himself into almost any sliver of space he wants. If you leave any daylight at the 3-point line, he’s taking the shot.
If you crowd him with a live dribble, he’s going to find a way to get past you for a pull-up or a sweet dime to one of his teammates.
Perhaps ZDS can reach back into his bag and find one of those 52-point games in there for the title.
https://twitter.com/nba2kleague/status/1152609113492168706?s=21
T-Wolves Gaming
There’s a freight train coming from Minnesota and it looks like pure destiny. T-Wolves Gaming has not lost a regular-season or playoff game in what feels like an eternity.
One of the expansion teams this year, media expectations of them were low and were not enhanced with the star they drafted in Hood asking out after just a couple of matches.
After he was benched, the team struggled as they had to find their way, but once BearDaBeast moved to point guard full-time something just clicked and the sky was the limit.
As the playoff hunt heated up, The Wolves needed to win all the games remaining on their regular-season schedule or win The Ticket tournament to secure a spot in the playoffs. They failed to bring home the banner chain in Orlando, but the run they went on was historic.
Seven straight regular-season wins brought their record to 10-6, which got them the fourth seed right behind the Sixers.
Not only did they win out for the rest of the season, but they also steam-rolled Kings Guard Gaming in the quarterfinals and immediately went to work by logging back to back blowouts of Warriors Gaming Squad in the semi-finals.
A bit of the magic of this years NBA 2K League Finals would be lost if somehow Feast was lost in the shuffle. He was an integral part of the 76ers GC playoff run last season, but found himself not retained before the expansion draft.
He was picked up by the T-Wolves during the first round of the 2019 draft and went in to lead them in rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage. Winners win and he found a way to help get his new to the NBA 2K League Finals against his former team.
Keep an eye out on this matchup as his memory of the 76ers playbook may prove to be invaluable in this best of five series.
"Hello, operator? I need to close out a series vs. a 2-time tournament winner? Do you have a number we can call?"
— NBA 2K League (@NBA2KLeague) July 27, 2019
Operator: "Yep, call 1-800-Bear-Da-Beast for all your closeout game needs!" pic.twitter.com/DDTPRk9gQ0
And here. We. Go. The Finals are today! The T-Wolves will be looking to sweep the Sixers during the final battle of the 2019 NBA 2K League Season. There will be tons of trash talk, which is something that makes the league so fun as they encourage it.
There will be highlight play after highlight play. Philadelphia will bring the defense, and calculated offense and Minnesota will bring the flash. I believe the Sixers will put up a good fight, but this series is the T-Wolves’ to lose.
BearDaBeast will lead the team to a 3-1 series victory and take home Finals MVP.