Magic Gaming Loses in Five to Warriors Gaming Squad and in Four to Wizards District Gaming to Finish Up Group Play of the SLAM OPEN

ORLANDO – It’s common for teams in the NBA 2K League to experiment with different lineups and player builds early in the season. That’s what Magic Gaming did to wrap up group play in the 3v3 SLAM OPEN on Friday night.

Magic Gaming Falls Short to Warriors Gaming Squad After Extending Series to Five Games

Game 1: Jarvis “Simptoms” Thompson and Devin “Scoreo” Lawrence made their Magic Gaming debuts in the opener of this series, however despite strong performances from both, it wasn’t enough as Warriors Gaming Squad pulled out a 22-18 victory.

Charlie “CB13” Bostwick erupted for 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the floor. Now in his fifth NBA 2K League season, all with the Warriors, CB13 drilled a 3-pointer to end it.

Joshua “unguardable” Hunter tallied 11 points and three assists for Orlando, which knocked down eight of its 10 shots from the field. Simptoms and Scoreo combined for seven points.

Game 2: CB13 has been one of the NBA 2K League’s best players since entering the league in 2019. It doesn’t appear a decline is imminent, as the crafty point guard stayed perfect with his shooting in the series in Golden State’s 21-15 win.

He made all seven of his shots for 16 points, including two from 3-point range. The Warriors, as a team, shot 9-of-9 overall and 3-of-3 from downtown.

Unguardable also had an efficient game, knocking down six of his seven shots for 13 points.

Game 3: Momentum shifted in Game 3, as unguardable racked up 14 points and Scoreo had five, including the winning 3-pointer in Orlando’s 23-18 victory.

The Magic made their final eight shots. Unguardable connected on five of them, while Simptoms made two and Scoreo had the other, which was the three that sealed it.

Game 4: Once again, the Magic counted on Scoreo to make the big shot, and that’s precisely what he did, as his 3-pointer propelled Orlando to another 23-18 win.

Unguardable was spectacular again with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting, while Scoreo, in addition to his five points, had four rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Game 5: In the prior two games, it was Orlando’s power forward, Scoreo, who delivered the knockout punch. In the series finale, it was Golden State’s power forward who did the same, as the Warriors held off the Magic.

Jaden “Nay” Bhopal, a 2023 second round draft pick, buried back-to-back 3-pointers to lift Golden State to a 23-18 Game 5 victory.

The Magic led 14-11 before the Warriors seized control. Unguardable recorded 11 points, while Simptoms scored seven on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor.

“I liked what I got from both of them tonight,” Magic Gaming General Manager and Head Coach Jonah Edwards said of Simptoms and Scoreo. “I thought both were great. I think they came in very prepared today. Obviously, more repetitions in the lineup will help with this group a lot because, frankly, this isn’t a lineup we ran often leading up to the first couple weeks of the season. Still working out some kinks, but I think if you watch closely, we clearly have talent and we are clearly very, very close to breaking through here. I do like what where we are at with the lineup here.”

Magic Gaming Taken Down by Wizards District Gaming in Four

Game 1: Magic Gaming was in front nearly the whole way before Wizards District Gaming seized control late for a 23-21 victory in the opener.

Former Magic player Justin “Kapp” Kaplan sank the winning 3-pointer after Simptoms put Orlando ahead 21-20. Unguardable scored the Magic’s first 19 points.

Game 2: Orlando got some key stops early on, which allowed them to create some separation on their way to a 22-19 win.

Washington did go on a run late to pull within one, but unguardable iced it with a dunk. The Magic Gaming point guard, acquired in the middle of last season from Blazer5 Gaming, finished with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

Kapp was held to just two points on 1-of-3 shooting.

Game 3: The Wizards came out blazing hot and never cooled off in a 23-10 win.

Washington jumped out to a 10-0 lead behind scorching shooting from Manuel “Newdini” Newman, who finished with 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field.

Unguardable scored all 10 of Orlando’s points.

Game 4: The Wizards have been one of the NBA 2K League’s best defensive teams each of the last three seasons. It appears that isn’t changing this year, as just like in Game 3 they were stifling in a series closeout 22-12 victory.

Kapp led Washington with 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting. Simptoms made all three of his shots for six points.

“With this being my first outing of 3v3, not happy with the results but it’s still coming along, getting used to the gameplay,” Simptoms said. “I think if I am out there next week, it will be way better results. I like my team. We are vibing good. We are jelling well. Just little things we can clean up.”

Up Next

The first phase of SLAM OPEN bracket play will take place next week remotely. Matchups will be unveiled in the coming days.