Blazer5 Gaming tore through the regular season to capture the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Will they bring a title to Portland?
Earlier this summer, I previewed the Portland representative in the new NBA 2K league, Blazer5 Gaming. Since then, the team has caught fire, establishing themselves as the team to beat in the upcoming playoffs.
Blazer5 Gaming has been unstoppable this season, winning 12 of 14 games in the regular season to go along with a tournament win and finals appearance in two of the three midseason tournaments.
The team, featuring MVP and DPOY OneWildWalnut, cruised to the top seed in the league playoffs, defeating their opponents by an average of 8.1 points per game. That’s an average point differential five points better than the next best team.
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Blazer5 Gaming and the Playoffs
The NBA 2K league playoffs will begin on August 17th, with a full slate of single elimination games to begin at 6 p.m. The tournament features the top seven teams in the regular season standings, along with the winner of the final midseason tournament, known as The Ticket.
The teams are seeded based on their regular season record. Semifinals and Finals matchups will be best-of-three series. All NBA 2K League games are available exclusively on Twitch.
Blazer5 Gaming will play Knicks Gaming in the 1 vs. 8 matchup of the league playoffs — a team Portland has dispatched twice already this season.
Knicks Gaming
Knicks Gaming qualified for the playoffs as the winner of The Ticket, going on a magical run as the 15th seed in the 17-team tournament to capture a playoff berth. Knicks Gaming finished the season 5-9 with an average run differential of –2.9, good for the 14th spot in the standings.
The winner of the Blazer5 Gaming and Knicks Gaming game will play a best-of-three series against the winner of the first-round match between Raptors Uprising GC and Cavs Legion GC. Blazer5 Gaming is 5-0 on the season against these two teams.
Blazer5 Gaming enters the inaugural league playoffs on fire and is the team to beat in the tournament. With the league MVP and DPOY, as well as an easy first round opponent, look for the team to make some noise as they try to bring a title to Portland.