Believe in Magic Gaming! Orlando Defeats T-Wolves Gaming to Claim SWITCH OPEN Championship
April 6, 2024
The Lead: Do you believe in Magic Gaming? If you didn’t, you do now. Orlando completed a historic NBA 2K League SWITCH OPEN 3v3 tournament run by sweeping T-Wolves Gaming in the championship match to earn its second banner title in team history and its first championship with a pool containing every squad in the league.
“It’s a great feeling to win for the Magic,” said Magic Gaming point guard Joshua “unguardable” Hunter, who was named the tournament MVP. “Being able to win for the Magic has always been a goal of mine since I got here, and we finally got the job done. It was long overdue for (Magic Gaming general manager and head coach) Jonah Edwards. He puts in more work than any coach in the league. I’m happy he finally got it and can say we won something.”
In the process, Magic Gaming also secured the No. 2 seed in the 2KL 3v3 playoffs, earned a first-round bye, and claimed a $30,000 prize pool to be split amongst the team.
“I truly believe that the Orlando Magic are one of the best organizations in all of sports,” Edwards said. “We are an organization that deserves to win. It means the world to me to be in this position and it’s incredibly humbling … It’s so awesome to win for them as much as anything else.”
Game 1: If you’ve been paying attention to Magic Gaming’s SWITCH OPEN run, you know that starting hot is a one of the main staples of this squad. Orlando kept that trend alive as it rolled to a 22-16 win over T-Wolves Gaming in the opener.
Unguardable went a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from downtown, on his way to a game-high 13 points. Small forward Julian “Jboolin” Manzanares scored five, while big man Ashton “LowkeyGodlike” Agredano added four points and four rebounds.
“That’s a big point of emphasis for us,” said unguardable of his team’s hot start. “That was our plan going in.”
Game 2: T-Wolves Gaming point guard Damian “tutak” Tutak, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NBA 2K League Draft, was on a torrid pace heading into the championship finals. However, that was before he ran into Magic Gaming rookie lockdown defender Jboolin, who just so happened to play with tutak in predraft competition. Jboolin, who was picked third overall, not only led Orlando with nine points but he held tutak to five points on a dismal 2-for-6 shooting performance in Magic Gaming’s 23-14 Game 2 victory.
“It definitely adds a lot to my confidence (to have a game like that),” said Jboolin. “I feel like I’m on top of the world right now. A rookie winning a banner. Getting stops and scoring on the other end, all in the same game. That definitely just adds more fuel to the fire.”
Game 3: Orlando’s mindset in this series was simply to show no mercy. Magic Gaming made quick work of T-Wolves Gaming, surging to a 23-8 triumph to complete a sweep of Minnesota and claim the SWITCH OPEN title.
“We knew we were the better team, we just had to just lock in and trust each other,” said LowkeyGodlike, who has now claimed three of the last four 2KL 3v3 titles. “(We did that) and we won.”
MVP: Unguardable has earned a lot of hardware over the course of his career. He’s been named to the 2KL’s All-Rookie team, he’s been the All-Star Game MVP in both game modes, and he’s claimed the STEAL OPEN banner and MVP award. But earning a SWITCH OPEN title and MVP, he feels, is his best accomplishment to date.
“Amongst the hardware I have in the league, this would be No. 1,” unguardable explained. “This is my first banner title with every team in it and my first MVP (of a tournament with all the teams) in it. This hits a little different. This would be No. 1 amongst the accolades that I’ve accomplished in this league.”