Magic Gaming Loses Two Heartbreakers to Heat Check Gaming

ORLANDO – A couple weeks ago, Magic Gaming and Gen.G played two instant classic games, with Orlando coming out on top in both behind last-second game-winning shots. On Saturday, the Magic were a part of another two thrilling contests. Except this time, it was their opponent, Heat Check Gaming, that earned the victories.

Game 1: Magic Gaming stormed back from a double-digit halftime deficit and controlled a one-point lead with just seconds left following a pair of go-ahead free throws from Brendan “Reizey” Hill. However, Orlando was unable to get a stop on Heat Check Gaming’s last possession as Juan “Hotshot” Gonzalez, who scored eight of his 19 points in the final two minutes, slammed home a game-winning reverse dunk with 2.2 seconds remaining to lift Miami to a 75-74 victory.

Reizey, who made Orlando’s last three shots and finished with 29 points and 14 assists, missed a jumper at the buzzer. Justin “Snubby” Stemerman, acquired by the Magic in the offseason from Hornets Venom GT, was a catalyst for Orlando’s comeback. He came alive in the third quarter and ended with 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting overall and 5-of-8 from 3-point range.

A big advantage for the Heat came on the offensive glass. Miami scored 11 more second-chance points than Orlando.

Sten “Sav” Valge-Saar led the Heat with 24 points and 10 assists. Daniel “DT” Tlais went a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and scored 11 points for the Magic, while Josue “FutureClutch” Acosta Gomez and Robert “May” May had four points apiece.

“I just thought we were pre-determining too much stuff. We were losing the rebound count way too much and we’ve been doing that lately,” Magic Gaming General Manager/Head Coach Jonah Edwards said. “We’re giving ourselves a deficit where the other team has ten more shots at halftime. That’s just not a winning recipe. So, we made some adjustments there and obviously it helped and we tried to stick with the same plan going into game two and (we were) also unsuccessful there.”

Game 2: This contest, like the opener, featured more clutch shots, except this time it was May and DT doing the late scoring for the Magic and Demar “Deedz” Butler and Sav doing it for the Heat.

Orlando’s frontcourt duo combined for six points in the final two minutes of regulation before Deedz buried a game-tying corner 3-pointer with 8.7 seconds remaining. Then in overtime, Sav hit the game’s signature shot – a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left – as Miami pulled out an 86-83 win.

The Magic had a double-digit lead in the third quarter before the Heat rallied to create the seesaw battle down the stretch. Reizey tallied 23 points and 18 assists, while Snubby, who continues to play well with his new squad, scored 22. May registered 20 points and 10 rebounds and DT added 13 points.

“Just some unfortunate miscues on defense and offense,” Snubby said of the Heat’s second-half comeback. “Sometimes we kind of messed up a few fast breaks. Had some passes we missed. Had some shots we missed. And they hit their shots and played well.”

Brian “Killeyy” Diaz, recently picked up by the Heat, led Miami with 25 points, while Sav had 23 points and 12 assists and Hotshot recorded 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Stat of the Night

In the two games combined on Saturday, the backcourt duo of Reizey and Snubby scored 100 points and made 15 3-pointers.

Up Next

With a bye week ahead, Magic Gaming will have some extra time to practice. On the other side of the break will be a pair of Week 5 matchups. First they will face off against Cavs Legion GC, an opponent they beat twice in THE TIPOFF. The action will take place on Thursday, June 24 beginning at 7 p.m. Then on Saturday, June 26, starting at 9 p.m., the Magic will go to battle with Hawks Talon GC.

“It’s obviously going to be really important having some days off,” Edwards said. “I know we went 0-4 this week, which is obviously not the results we wanted. It’s a pretty terrible feeling going into a bye week. But, we really haven’t had more than a day off since guys got to market essentially. So, it’s going to be nice to have a few days to kind of rest and relax and obviously prepare for what we think is going to be a massive week coming back off the bye week.”