Stifling Defense Helps Magic Gaming Beat Knicks Gaming

It was evident during THE TIPOFF when they won three of their four games that Magic Gaming had the potential to be a special team this season, mostly because of their grit and tenacity on the defensive side of the court.

Those who weren’t sure, particularly after their 0-2 start in the regular season, may now be more convinced after what the Magic were able to do on Wednesday against Knicks Gaming, the reigning NBA 2K League champs.

Daniel “DT” Tlais, who on the prior possession converted on a go-ahead alley-oop layup with 12.1 seconds left, blocked Malik “OriginalMalik” Hobson’s jumper just before the final buzzer to seal the Magic’s 48-47 win.

Trailing by as much as 10 in the first half, Magic Gaming reversed the momentum behind its stifling defense. The Knicks, whom the Magic also beat in a double overtime thriller during group pool play of THE TIPOFF, scored just 19 points in the second half.

Well known throughout the NBA 2K community as an elite defender, Tucker “TuckerLocksUp” Henry was inserted into the lineup for this contest, which gave the Magic more defensive versatility to work with. He and one of the league’s other premier defenders, Emmanuel “UCMANNY” Cruz, combined for six steals.

“Tucker is one of those guys, he’s a vet, he’s not new to this league,” Magic Gaming Head Coach Jonah Edwards said about the 2019 fourth round draft pick who played for the Pacers last season. “He definitely is always up to the task and ready to go and that’s a credit to him. He’s always and will always be a great defender and that’s why his name is TuckerLocksUp and that’s why we played him in that role, that sharpshooting rim protector. It worked for us.”

As good as the defense was in that second half, the offense also came alive at the perfect time, especially from the team’s first round pick, Brendan “Reizey” Hill. The Tyler, Texas native drilled three of his four 3-pointers in the fourth, including one with 1:25 remaining that put Orlando in front. He finished with 16 points to lead all Magic scorers, while TuckerLocksUp and DT each poured in 14.

Adam “iamadamthe1st” Kudeimati, one of the players the Knicks retained from last year’s championship squad, put the Knicks on top temporarily when he hit a jumper with 27.1 seconds left. Credit to the Magic’s defense, though, as the Wayne, N.J. native, who finished with 20 points, didn’t record a single assist or rebound.

The Magic also limited one of the league’s best centers, Dayvon “GOOFY757” Curry, to just five shot attempts.

“Obviously we changed our lineup from what we’ve been running and that was really on paper to play good defense,” Edwards said. “Going in we knew it was going to be a defensive, scrappy game. We kept calling it a dogfight. (We knew) as long as we have defensive focus we should be able to win this game and we were able to scrape it out luckily there at the end.”