Magic Gaming Begins 5v5 Portion of Season With Victory Over Wizards District Gaming in TIPOFF Group Play

ORLANDO – Fifteen games had been played in TIPOFF group play prior to Magic Gaming’s opening contest against Wizards District Gaming on Wednesday night.

Only one team – defending-champion Bucks Gaming in their victory over Pacers Gaming – had scored over 80 points in those contests.

Orlando became the second team to do just that in an 81-73 win over Washington.

“If I’m being honest with you, that performance that we just had in a real game is probably one of our best performances ever – practices, real games, pickup, anything,” said shooting guard Jarvis “Simptoms” Thompson, acquired by Magic Gaming in the offseason from Mavs Gaming. “If we can do it in a real game, we can do it anywhere. Imagine us on stage.”

In the first half, Magic Gaming made 19 of their 21 floor shots and all six of their 3-point attempts. They ended up shooting 32-for-44 (72.7 percent) in the game and 10-for-17 (58.8 percent) from beyond the arc.

Joshua “unguardable” Hunter led the Magic with 25 points and he dished out 18 of Orlando’s 25 assists. Simptoms scored 20 points, while Devin “Scoreo” Lawrence, also acquired in a trade during the offseason, made all seven of his floor shots and finished with 16 points and five rebounds. Matthew “Matty” Grant posted 13 points and Robert “May” May had seven points and six rebounds.

“Me personally as a point guard, I pride myself on trying to be as efficient as possible,” unguardable said. “I just wanted to come out and make sure our offense started off well. I feel like as the game went on, it kept on flowing. It was just what we do every day. We work on our offense. It’s kind of what we expected. I think nobody expected anything less.”

After the Wizards pulled within six at 66-60 with just under three minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Magic reclaimed momentum with a 10-4 run. Scoreo started that flurry with a pair of inside buckets and then unguardable buried a pair of 3-pointers.

Former Magic Gaming player Justin “Kapp” Kaplan led the Wizards with 25 points, while John “Witness” Mushaben scored 21 points.

Orlando dished out seven more assists than Washington, blocked three more shots and collected two more steals.

Starting their 5v5 portion of the season with a win is a big confidence booster, especially with so many more games coming up in the next several days.

“Me personally, I didn’t start 1-0 last year, and it felt bad. The room felt it,” unguardable said, who began last season in Portland. “Right now, everybody is up. We know it’s just another game. We feel like the ball is rolling. Once the ball is rolling, it’s hard to stop.”

Magic Gaming will be back in action on Thursday when they take on Cavs Legion GC, Scoreo’s former team, at 6:15 p.m.

Shortly after the Magic’s win over the Wizards, NetsGC became the third team to eclipse 80 points in an 83-69 victory over Hawks Talon GC.