PACERS GAMING WINS THRILLER IN FIVE GAMES

INDIANAPOLIS (April 20, 2023) – “Growth” was the word of the day Thursday for Coach Cody Parrent’s Pacers Gaming squad.  Early in the day the team got together with PS&E partner Republic Services at the Growing Places Indy Farm as part of an Earth Day cleaning.  Later Thursday evening Pacers Gaming continued to “grow” the franchise’s reputation in the NBA 2K League 3v3 SWITCH OPEN Tournament as the defending champion Pacers advanced to next week’s in-person, 12-team championship round with a thrilling 3-2 series victory over Jazz Gaming. Indiana will await word from the league in the next few days of when and who it plays next week in Washington, D.C.

Over the two years of SWITCH OPEN play the Pacers are 17-3 in series and 56-22 in games played. Indiana was 9-1 in series and 30-9 in games played in 2022 and is 8-2 in series and 26-13 in games played this season. Each game winner is determined by the first team to score 21 points; winning by at least two points.

The Pacers took Game 1 Thursday against the Jazz, coming back from being down 15-19 to win 22-19.  Excellent shooting and defense were the keys for Indiana. The Pacers were nine for 13 from the field and four of eight from the three-point arc while Utah was held to seven of 14 overall and five for 11 from three.  CHESS (Kory Taylor) led the Pacers with 15 points, followed by JAYSNAGS (Julio Laboy) with seven.  REKCOMBOS led Utah with 10 points.  Indiana outscored the Jazz 7-4 down the stretch to go up 2-0 in the series with a 23-18 victory in Game 2.  CHESS scored 11 and dished four assists while BIG REIGN (Blaine Wilson) scored eight for Indiana. REKCOMBOS had 10 for Utah.

Facing elimination in Game 3, Utah took advantage of Indiana’s first turnovers in seven games, coming back from being down 14-18 to win, 21-18.  REKCOMBOS scored 10 to lead Utah.  JAYSNAGS scored nine for Indiana, followed by BIG REIGN with five points and five rebounds.  CHESS added four points and four assists.  The Jazz put some pressure on the Pacers, winning Game 4, 21-18 and tying the series at 2-2 as REKCOMBOS led all scorers with 14 points.  CHESS and JAYSNAGS each had eight tallies for Indiana.

In the critical Game 5, the Pacers rose to the occasion and never let Utah get comfortable in a convincing, series-clinching 21-12 conquest.  The Pacers were dominant in all phases, shooting nine of 10 from the field (three of three from three) and holding the Jazz to six of eight from the field and no three pointers attempted.  Balanced scoring was the play for Indiana as BIG REIGN had eight points, JAYSNAGS netted eight points and CHESS added five points.  REKCOMBOS led Utah with eight points.