Magic Gaming Falls to Handlez in Their First Ever NBA 2K League 3v3 Series

The Lead

Making their NBA 2K League 3v3 debut on Wednesday night, Magic Gaming were swept by Handlez, one of the top amateur teams on the circuit, in a best-of-five series in Group 1 pool play of the SLAM OPEN. Matthew “Matty” Grant led Orlando with 23 points in the three games combined.

Game 1

Xmiami2k scored 13 points and NOTELITESHOOTER buried the game-winning 3-pointer in Handlez’s 23-17 victory. Matty led Magic Gaming with 10 points, while Justin “Snubby” Stemerman had five points and three assists. Handlez ended the game on a 7-0 run after Orlando went ahead 17-16.

Game 2

Orlando rallied back from eight down to tie the game at 20, but they were unable to get a stop on the final possession, as xmiami2k slammed home the game-winning dunk in Handlez’s 22-20 win. Matty and Snubby each scored eight points, while Blaine “BigReign” Wilson tallied four points and three rebounds. Xmiami2k led Handlez with 10 points and NOTELITESHOOTER scored nine points.

Game 3

Magic Gaming stayed within striking distance throughout and were within one prior to NOTELITESHOOTER drilling his second game-winning triple of the series in Handlez’s 21-17 victory. NOTELITESHOOTER and xmiami2k each scored nine points for Handlez, while Snubby posted eight points, Matty had five and BigReign finished with four for Orlando.

Key Stat

Handlez knocked down 14 of their 22 3-point attempts throughout the series, including going five of six in the Game 3 clincher.

Quote of the Night

“I, honestly, still feel like regardless of losing (the series), I really feel like we are in a good spot. I have a lot of confidence in this team. We have five guys that are really good at the game just in general – three v. three, five v. five. I still feel really good, confident and hopeful about this group.” – Matty

Up Next

Magic Gaming’s second best-of-five series in the SLAM OPEN will take place Thursday night against Grizz Gaming starting at 10 p.m. ET. Orlando and Memphis are already familiar with one another having played each other in 5v5 action during THE TIPOFF. The Grizzlies won that contest behind strong performances from Michael “BP” Diaz-Cruz (25 points, 10 assists) and Justin “Jrod” Rodriguez (15 points, five rebounds). The top two teams from each of the eight groups in the SLAM OPEN during remote play will advance to the round-of-16 in-person bracket play at the NBA 2K League Studio in Indianapolis.