PACERS GAMING VS GRIZZ GAMING – 2023 “THE TIPOFF” TOURNAMENT
June 9, 2023
INDIANAPOLIS (June 9, 2023) – Pacers Gaming lost its chance to advance to next week’s championship round of the NBA 2K League THE TIPOFF Tournament, dropping its best-of-three bracket play matchup with Grizz Gaming Friday evening 2-0 (78-76 in overtime and 69-64). The Blue & Gold will have next week off before taking part in group play for THE TURN Tournament the following week. Indiana had halftime leads in both contests Friday but Memphis rallied in the second half in each.
The first encounter of the night had everything you could ask for…except a Pacers victory. The Pacers got off to a 15-11 lead after the first quarter and increased their margin to 13 mid-way through the second period before leading 31-26 at intermission. GREENLIGHT (Dylan Sanderson) had 10 points at the half to pace the Indiana attack. The Grizz came out strong in the third and led by eight, 47-39 late in the period. Memphis, which had a total of 26 points in the first half, scored 26 in the third quarter to take a 52-48 advantage after three. Memphis led by five late in the game but the Pacers rallied and tied the game at 65-65 to force overtime. Memphis held a 76-69 lead late in OT before the Blue & Gold pulled within two at the end. The Grizz outrebounded Indiana 24-14. GREENLIGHT led the Pacers with 25 points and nine assists while CHESS (Kory Taylor) scored 21 and dished out seven assists. RANGE (Gil Santiago, Jr.) added 11 points; BIG REIGN (Blaine Wilson) scored 10 points and pulled down nine rebounds and JAYSNAGS (Julio Laboy) added nine points, five rebounds and four steals. CP led Memphis with 33 points and 11 assists.
Down 0-1 and having to win Game Two of the best-of-three series, the Pacers again started strong, leading 20-17 after the first quarter as GREENLIGHT scored 12. Both teams tallied 16 points in the second quarter as Indiana led 36-33 at intermission behind GREENLIGHT’s 22 points. As they did in the first game the Grizz made a move in the third quarter, outscoring the Pacers 20-14 to take a 56-53 advantage after three. GREENLIGHT had 30 points for the Pacers through three quarters but would not score in the fourth. The fourth quarter was very tight as both teams exchanged one- and two-point leads until Memphis went up five with :10 to play. The Grizz made free throws in the final seconds to secure the 69-64 triumph. The Grizz outrebounded the Pacers 23-10 in the game. GREENLIGHT led the Pacers with 30 points and seven assists while RANGE added 13 tallies, CHESS scored 11 and BIG REIGN contributed 10 points. CP led the Grizz with 26 points as all five Memphis players reached double figures.
