PACERS GAMING VS LAKERS GAMING & RAPTORS UPRISING GC – THE SLAM 3V3
March 14, 2023
INDIANAPOLIS (March 14, 2023) – Pacers Gaming saw its record in the NBA 2K League 3v3 SLAM OPEN Tournament Group Play drop to 0-5 with two series losses Tuesday night. The Pacers are back in action Wednesday with two more series – a 6:45 p.m. matchup with Australia’s NBL Oz Gaming and an 8:15 encounter with Nets GC.
Each matchup in this format features a best-of-five series, first team to 21 points wins but must win by two points.
Tuesday’s first series against Lakers Gaming proved to be one of the most exciting series of the young NBA 2K League season so far. The Lakers jumped out to a 1-0 lead taking the first game, 21-17. Coach Cody Parrent tried his fourth lineup of the season inserting 5v5 veteran BIG REIGN (Blaine Wilson) into the lineup for his first taste of 3v3 action. Although the initial result wasn’t a win, the team did display balanced offense as GREENLIGHT (Dylan Sanderson) and JAYSNAGS (Julio Laboy) each scored six; and BIG REIGN netted five tallies. The Blue & Gold battled back to take Game 2, 22-18 as GREENLIGHT scored 10 and JAYSNAGS went for nine points. RYAN1ON1 had 10 for the Lakers. Los Angeles took a 2-1 series edge winning Game 3, 21-15 despite 10 points from GREENLIGHT. RYAN had 15 for LA. The Pacers battled back and tied the series at 2-2 with a convincing 22-13 victory in Game 4 as JAYSNAGS paced the offense with 11 points on five-of-five shooting, BIG REIGN added six and GREENLIGHT contributed five points and team-high three assists. The deciding Game 5 went back-and-forth the whole way with the Lakers finally getting the win in a thriller, 24-22 as RYAN scored 13. GREENLIGHT led Indiana with a then season-high 11 points and JAYSNAGS added eight.
Raptors Uprising GC took the second series of the night, 3-0. The Pacers lost a heart-breaker in Game 1, 22-20, despite a new season-high of 14 points by GREENLIGHT. JAYSNAGS added four steals, two assists and four points in the loss. MOOCH led Toronto with 14 points. Toronto won another close one in Game 2, 23-19 despite 12 points from JAYSNAGS on six-of-six shooting from the field. He also had an incredible five steals. MOOCH led the Raptors with 10 points. Toronto closed the series with a 22-15 victory in Game 3 as MOOCH scored 11. JAYSNAGS led Indiana with 12 points on six-of-shooting. GREENLIGHT was credited with five assists.