Magic Gaming’s Offense Stalls Against Celtics Crossover Gaming

The Lead: 

For the first time since acquiring guards Joshua “Unguardable” Hunter and Wesley “Gen” McNair as part of a massive four-team trade, Magic Gaming’s offense sputtered in a 95-66 seed week loss to Celtics Crossover Gaming on Tuesday night.

“We didn’t adjust well as the game went along,” said Magic Gaming General Manager and Head Coach Jonah Edwards. “There wasn’t a whole lot of communication. There were not a whole lot of adjustments going on. The lack of adjustments led to us getting bled out as the game progressed.”

All five Boston players scored in double figures led by Jhade “Colt” Black, who racked up an eye-popping 24 points, 22 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. CLTX Gaming lockdown defender Torin “TayZo” Williams gave Orlando trouble on both ends of the floor and finished the night with 22 points and three steals. Boston point guard Sheriff “FT” Cruz notched 14 points to go along with a game-high 20 assists.

Magic Gaming’s Key Performers: 

Orlando’s biggest offensive spark came courtesy of Gen. The explosive shooting guard fired off a team-high 23 points, heavily surpassing his combined total (15) from his first two games in a Magic Gaming uniform.

Unguardable, who averaged a whopping 26.0 points and 12.5 assists per game last week, struggled to get into a rhythm, but still finished the contest with 15 points and eight assists. Center Robert “May” May added 14 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists, while power forward Justin “Snubby” Stemerman tallied 10 points, four rebounds, and three steals.

Outlook: 

Based on the fact that their only pathway to the postseason can come through THE TICKET, Magic Gaming has stated that they plan to use the seed weeks to develop chemistry with their newly formed unit and build momentum heading into the NBA 2K League’s final 5v5 tournament of the season rather than focusing on contest outcomes. Still, Orlando is hoping for better communication and in-game adjustments from its players than the type of effort put forth against Boston.

“To be able to be a winning team in THE TICKET, you need multiple win conditions,” said Edwards. “You need different guards to be able to beat the other team or your defense to come through or someone to have a special game and things like that. Tonight, we were not the resilient group that we need to be to be able to win THE TICKET.”

Up Next: 

It’ll be a quick turnaround for Magic Gaming, who will go head-to-head with DUX Infinitos on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET. The contest will mark the first time this season that Orlando faces a Western Conference opponent.

“Their defense is really good,” said Edwards. “As a team, they play really solid defense. MaJes7ic (Stanley Lebron) has had probably the best year of his five-year career this season. I think he’s been phenomenal. Beezus (Brent Aasgaard), their power forward, has been pretty good. Their backcourt isn’t bad either. Although they don’t score at a high rate, they are efficient at times. Seem (Waseem Talbert) likes to work in the midrange and gets there at will. And Killeyy (Brian Diaz) is one of the league’s top sharps this season.”

How to Watch: 

Fans can watch games live on the NBA 2K League’s Twitch and YouTube channels. Games will also be available on Dash Radio, eGG Network in Southeast Asia, Loco in India, and Sport1 in Europe.