THE TURN Tournament Recap: Warriors Gaming Squad Falls in Quarterfinals

Warriors Gaming Squad fell to fifth-seeded Kings Guard Gaming in the quarterfinals, bowing gracefully out of THE TURN Tournament after two tightly contested series. Raptors Uprising GC eventually won the tournament, becoming the second team in 2K League history (after WGS) to win multiple tournaments in the same season.

THE TURN featured a tournament-specific “archetype ban” system in which teams banned up to six archetypes (a maximum of two per position) from use by both teams during the best-of-three series. Four archetypes were banned before the first game, two more before the second, and all six bans carried over into any third games.

Seeded fourth, WGS began its THE TURN title defense against Blazer5 Gaming, who won the tournament in 2018. The two teams banned the two primary point guard archetypes, as well as two main center builds, moving CB13 to the midrange specialist build and Slaughter to the slashing rim protector archetype. In game one, WGS fought back from a late deficit to send the low-scoring affair into overtime, where the team pulled out a 66-62 win thanks to a key alley-oop from CB13—who led all scorers with 32 points—to Gradient. Slaughter recorded a 12-point, 15-rebound double-double and outrebounded 2018 MVP OneWildWalnut 7-3 down the stretch to lead WGS to the win.

.@CB13 (28.3 PPG, 10 APG, 56 FG%) played a good one, and @WarriorsGaming is advancing in THE TURN Powered by @ATT!

Watch his highlights from Thursday night's action. 👇 pic.twitter.com/MU5yfnzul5

— NBA 2K League (@NBA2KLeague) July 24, 2020

Game two was a different matter. OOC Slim, Blazer5’s shooting guard, moved to a build with better interior finishing, and he turned in a team-high 24 points as Blazer5 Gaming emerged with a 76-64 win. Blazer5’s game two ban of the pure sharpshooter limited Bsmoove to just 11 points in game two as CB13 led all scorers once again with 31. To counteract the ban, Bsmoove moved to the sharpshooting defender archetype in game three and held OOC Slim to just six points. Game three was a tense, action-packed clash, with no team leading by more than six points all game. CB13’s layup over two defenders with 25 seconds to play gave WGS the lead for the final time as MamaImDatMan missed an open three-pointer that would have given Blazer5 the lead with three seconds remaining.

A heart-pounding Game 3. We're into the Round of 8!

GG's @blazer5gaming, a well played series. pic.twitter.com/qSR6m700hx

— Warriors Gaming (@WarriorsGaming) July 24, 2020

The tournament bracket left little time to recuperate from the three-game slugfest, as WGS took on fifth-seeded Kings Guard Gaming the next night. Game one was immediately a back-and-forth affair, as neither team led by more than seven points. After Kings Guard Gaming took the lead in the fourth quarter, WGS managed to push the game to overtime, where Kings Guard Gaming eventually managed to seize and hold the lead to take game one. Four WGS players scored in double digits, but 39 points from Kings Guard Gaming point guard Bash proved to be the deciding factor.

👀 @Gradient: "The human highlight." 😱 pic.twitter.com/bzLK2unonn

— NBA 2K League (@NBA2KLeague) July 25, 2020

Game two was more of the same, as another close game gave both teams little space to relax. The defensive contest culminated in a 63-59 win for Kings Guard Gaming, thanks to a fourth quarter in which Kings Guard scored more than 20 points, the first quarter in which either team did so all series long. Bash once again provided the spark for Kings Guard, scoring 36 points, while Slaughter led the way for Warriors Gaming Squad with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Kings Guard advanced to the semifinals, where they were defeated in three games by eventual champions Raptors Uprising GC.

WGS will conclude the regular season in week 11 with three games against T-Wolves Gaming, Celtics Crossover Gaming, and Grizz Gaming, before a bye in week 12.