PACERS GAMING VS PISTONS GT – 2023 “THE TIPOFF” TOURNAMENT
May 25, 2023
INDIANAPOLIS (May 25, 2023) – With one of the most dominant fourth quarters in league history, Pacers Gaming won its second game in as many nights Thursday evening, defeating Pistons GT 60-48 at home in group play of the NBA 2K League 5v5 THE TIPOFF Tournament presented by AT&T. The Pacers, now 2-1, will next play on May 31 at 8:00 p.m. against Mavs Gaming. The Blue & Gold captured a 68-58 road win last night at Jazz Gaming.
Remarkably, coach Cody Parrent’s team outscored Detroit, one of the league favorites in 5v5 this year, 13-2 in the fourth quarter to earn the W. The Pacers outrebounded the Pistons 20-19 and committed 10 turnovers to Detroit’s 14. GREENLIGHT (Dylan Sanderson) led the Blue & Gold with 18 points and three assists. CHESS (Kory Taylor) scored 16 to go along with six assists while JAYSNAGS (Julio Laboy) went for ten tallies and eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Center BIG REIGN (Blaine Wilson) scored eight points and pulled down nine rebounds while rookie RANGE (Gil Santiago, Jr,) scored eight, grabbed two rebounds and had six steals (one off the team record).
“This was a classic defensive battle,” said Parrent. “It would remind veteran Pacers fans of those old Indiana-Detroit games back in the day. Great way to start the 5v5 season with a 2-1 week. Lots of work to do and we’ll get back at it tomorrow.”
The Pacers bolted to an early 10-point lead late in the first quarter as CHESS scored nine points and GREENLIGHT went for eight. A late Detroit three pointer made it 22-15 Pacers after one. Detroit came out storming in the second quarter, shooting 60% while holding Indiana to 36% shooting; outscoring the Pacers 17-8 to take a 32-20 edge at intermission. In the third quarter, Detroit went up seven early but a 9-0 run by the Pacers made it close and a last-second three pointer by RANGE at the buzzer gave the Pacers a 47-46 lead after three quarters. The Pacers then put together the dominant fourth quarter, outscoring Detroit 13-2 to take the victory.
