Magic Gaming picks up first two wins of season in weekend sweep

Magic Gaming picked up its first wins in the NBA 2K League, sweeping a pair of games in Week 3 of the NBA 2K League and building off its successful trends.

Magic Gaming had gone through some heartbreak in the early part of their season. The one thing they needed was the confirmation that their work and improvement was producing results.

In the one week they played two games in the inaugural season of the NBA 2K League, Magic Gaming got that confirmation.

The team won its first two games of the season, evening its record at 2-2 with wins over Knicks Gaming and Warriors Gaming Squad, both by relatively comfortable margins. The team’s frustrations and struggles to close in the second half finally went by the wayside. It was a strong second-half and fourth-quarter performance in both games that helped deliver the wins.

In the team’s first game, Magic Gaming used a 22-8 fourth quarter to break a halftime tie and defeat Knicks Gaming 66-56.

Forward King Cam Royalty led the way for Magic Gaming with a strong performance in both games. He scored 23 points on 10-for-13 shooting against the Knicks, adding 11 rebounds for good measure.

This second half was the kind of game the team had been missing in its three losses during the 2K League tip-off tournament and during the first two games. Magic Gaming could not get into a consistent offensive or defensive flow. Especially later in the games. Turnovers were a huge hindrance at times.

But throughout those games, the team showed progress. There were flashes where the team played strong defense and rallied to come back and used its unselfish play and strong shooting to generate offense.

It just took some time for this group to piece it all together. That is where Magic Gaming left off in these games.

In Magic Gaming’s second game of the day, King Cam Royalty again came up big, scoring 14 points. But he dished out six assists to go with eight rebounds to provide better balance to defeat Warriors Gaming Squad 55-48.

Center Marley213s had 15 points to lead the team. This game was a relatively tight affair throughout. Magic Gaming finally made the plays they needed to win.

At the very least, it was good for Magic Gaming to get off the mat and finally secure that first victory. To do that and score another victory to even their record is a big swing in momentum.

No doubt, Magic Gaming has had an uphill climb. The team decided to build around a passing point guard and spread the floor with shooters. They do not have a dominant scoring presence, using matchups to try to dictate things.

That might make sense and work in real life. But 2K tends to reward dominant scorers. And other teams have burned Magic Gaming with some big scoring games. Magic Gaming struggled most when its defense struggled to get stops and the team turned it over.

Before the season even began, predictions had Magic Gaming finishing near the bottom of the league for its roster construction alone. The start of the season did not help matters.

Slowly though, Magic Gaming has gotten better. The team has started to come together. And the good stretches have lasted longer.

Saturday’s Week 3 games represented a big step forward to the team. The team had strong execution and defense and the will to finish. Magic Gaming finally put all the pieces together to secure the win.

At 2-2, it puts the team back in contention with still plenty of room to improve.

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Magic Gaming will play again next week (June 2) at 1 p.m. against Grizz Gaming. You can watch all NBA 2K League games on Twitch.