PACERS GAMING VS WIZARDS DISTRICT GAMING – THE TURN
June 8, 2022
INDIANAPOLIS – Pacers Gaming knew it would be a tough outing Wednesday evening at the Pavilion at Pan Am in downtown Indianapolis on the first night of in-person play in the NBA 2K League THE TURN Tournament. The Pacers would be facing two-time defending league champion Wizards District. The team from DC showed all that it just be in position to win title number three. Despite a great fourth-quarter comeback which saw Indiana with the ball late and down only six, the Blue & Gold fell to the Wizards 66-55 and were eliminated. Washington moves on to play Knicks Gaming on Thursday in the quarterfinals. Next action for the Pacers will come in remote play in the 3v3 THE SWITCH OPEN Tournament, June 14-24.
Pacers guard VANDI (Zach Vandivier) led the team with 20 points followed by all-star center JOMAR (Jomar Varela-Escapa) with a double/double of 15 points/14 rebounds to go with five assists, two steals and a blocked shot. REIZY (Reid Hill) added 14 tallies and a team-high eight assists while veteran WOLF (Bryant Colon) had six points. LAVISH (Andron Thomas) pulled down four rebounds. KAPP led the Washington attack with 26 points on eight-of-15 shooting from the arc.
The Pacers fell behind early 19-11 after the first quarter despite eight points from Vandi. DC pulled away even further with a 14-9 second quarter to take a 33-20 advantage at half. The Wizards seemed to take an insurmountable 50-32 lead after three quarters. But Coach Bobby Jones, Jr.’s team bolted out to start the fourth quarter on a 15-7 run to pull within 10, 57-47 with just under three minutes to play. Not too long after, Vandi’s three-pointer pulled Indiana within 59-53 with 1:21 remaining. All this coming against the best defensive team in the NBA 2K League. But free throws and some time-consuming successful possessions carried the two-two champs to the 66-55 triumph.
Box score below: