Magic Gaming’s SLAM OPEN Run Comes to an End After Being Swept by Pacers Gaming

ORLANDO – Magic Gaming’s SLAM OPEN run came to an end on Friday night as they dropped their remote bracket play series to Pacers Gaming, 3-0.

After Orlando defeated Sacramento on Wednesday, it needed just two more victories to advance to the in-person portion of the NBA 2K League’s first 3v3 tournament of the season.

However, Magic Gaming was unable to come up with big plays down the stretch in three straight contests, thus dashing their hopes of making it to Washington D.C.

“We can look at what’s happened this week with all these top teams, top seeds in the tournament, they’re not on their way to D.C.,” said Magic Gaming General Manager and Head Coach Jonah Edwards. “They’re all going to be at home. So, I think that the biggest thing for us is focusing on the fact that we can still make that jump and a lot can change week to week. I still think we can turn this thing around quick. The skill gap in this mode is not high. So, all we have to do is make a couple of corrections.”  

Game 1: In 3v3 action, one or two miscues can easily be the difference between a win and a loss. That was the case for Magic Gaming in the series opener as a pair of missed layups early on proved to be too much to overcome in a 23-19 loss to Pacers Gaming.

“I felt like in every game in this series it came down to one or two possessions,” said small forward Jarvis “Simptoms” Thompson. “In a mode like 3v3, (little things) play a major part between a win and a loss.”

Indiana guard Kory “Chess” Taylor paced his squad with 11, while power forward Blaine “BigReign” Wilson added eight points and two rebounds.

Orlando floor general Joshua “unguardable” Hunter fired off a game-high 14 points.

Game 2: Small forward Julio “JaySnags” Laboy and BigReign each posted eight points to help Pacers Gaming hand Magic Gaming a 21-17 defeat. Orlando jumped out to an early 9-4 advantage, but Indiana answered with an 11-0 run to take the lead – one it would never relinquish.

Unguardable put up a game-high nine points for Orlando, while Simptoms scored eight.

Game 3: Despite a valiant effort to keep the series alive, Magic Gaming came up short, dropping the final contest 23-20.

Former Magic Gaming big man BigReign knocked down the dagger shot, a 21-foot jumper to put an end to Orlando’s tournament run. Chess recorded a team-high nine points, while JaySnags and BigReign each poured in seven.

Unguardable led all scorers for the third straight contest, posting 14 points for Magic Gaming.

“We just didn’t communicate well defensively tonight,” Edwards explained. “I thought we gave them a lot of easy points (and) I thought we didn’t adjust well mid-series either. I think we just got a little hyper-fixated on a specific way they were trying to attack us. … I think we tried to overcorrect a little too much.”

Up Next: Magic Gaming will have the next week off as the league completes the in-person bracket play portion of the SLAM OPEN.

Orlando will return to action on Wednesday, April 5, when it faces Nets GC at 6 p.m. ET to tip off THE SWITCH tournament.

“We’ve got five guys who show up every day early ready to work, put in work, and go extra hard,” said Simptoms. “There are only three of us on the court at a time (in this mode), but all five of us are putting in the extra work to better ourselves. I’m very confident in this group’s work ethic and I’m very confident in what we’re going to be able to do next tournament.”