Magic Gaming Sweeps Pistons GT to Advance to THE TIPOFF Semifinals

Late Friday night, Magic Gaming learned they had secured their spot in the quarterfinals of THE TIPOFF as the “wild card” team after going 3-1 in the opening round. Matched up with Pistons GT, a team that went a perfect 4-0 in the group stage, the Magic played a brand of virtual basketball that they believe will carry them to new heights this season. Sharp, gritty and poised, Orlando swept Detroit in its best-of-three series to advance to the semifinals.

Game 1: Behind 35 points from Brendan “Reizey” Hill and double-doubles from both Daniel “DT” Tlais and Robert “May” May, Magic Gaming cruised to a 71-60 victory.

Together for a third consecutive season in Orlando, Reizey and DT combined to shoot 9-of-16 from 3-point range. The third quarter, when the Magic outscored the Pistons by eight, is when Reizey really came alive. The Tyler, Texas native buried three of his five triples that period.

Orlando out-rebounded Detroit by 10, with DT and May combining for 23 of the Magic’s 24 boards. Playing against the team he spent his rookie campaign with in 2019, May was a force on both ends, especially in the fourth quarter when he scored four of his 10 points and grabbed four of his 13 rebounds.

Dylan “Greenlight” Sanderson, Detroit’s 2021 second round draft pick, led his squad with 20 points, while Ramo “Ramo” Radoncic posted 17 points and seven rebounds.

Game 2: Josue Acosta Gomez’s gamertag is “FutureClutch.” He sure lived up to that nickname on Saturday night. The California native made all seven of his shot attempts in Game 2, including a go-ahead left corner jumper with 27.1 seconds remaining as Magic Gaming completed a series sweep of Pistons GT with a 65-64 victory.

Preceding FutureClutch’s big shot and following a game-tying dunk by Reizey with 1:19 left were a couple Magic steals, which put Orlando in position to reclaim the lead after Detroit had stormed back down the stretch.

Reizey, who finished with 23 points, was one of three Magic players who scored in double figures. Justin “Snubby” Stemerman, who scored 16 points and had a big dunk with 2:20 remaining, and FutureClutch, who had 15 points, were the others. For the sixth straight game in THE TIPOFF, May compiled double-digit rebounds with 11 of them in this contest.

Trailing by six at halftime, the Magic outscored the Pistons by 13 in the third quarter.

Quotes of the Night

“He has been incredibly impressive. At no point I think does anyone on the team have doubt that he’s going to get us a stop or make a big play. It’s just who he is. I think he fits and complements our team perfectly well. It kind of blows my mind that he was there at (pick No.) thirty-one (in 2021 NBA 2K League Draft) looking back now already. We’ll see how he progresses. I feel really, really confident in his ability.” – Magic Gaming General Manager and Head Coach Jonah Edwards on FutureClutch, the team’s lone rookie.

“I was focused. I wasn’t nervous at all. I just knew we would pull it out, especially when the game was tied and we had the ball. I knew someone was going to come up big.” – DT on his team’s resilience late in Game 2.

Up Next

Magic Gaming and 76ers GC, who split their two games during the group stage on Wednesday night, will square off again. This time, it will be in the semifinals on Sunday night. In their first meeting, Orlando rallied from 14 down at halftime to pull out a thrilling victory. Reizey led the Magic in that win with 20 points. Philly got some revenge in the rematch with a 70-59 win behind 33 points and 10 assists from Andre “Dre” Marshall. The Sixers swept Heat Check Gaming in their quarterfinal matchup.