The quarterfinals matchups for the NBA 2K Players Tournament are now complete, and we saw some great battles.
Devin Booker vs. Rui Hachimura
Rui Hachimura decided to go with the Clippers, while Devin Booker felt confident enough to use the Mavericks in their matchup. Hachimura managed to grab an early 26-18 lead thanks to a barrage of threes, but Booker went on a huge run to overtake him 29-26.
It stayed tight for a while, but by the end of the third quarter Booker was up 50-37. Hachimura wasn’t able to mount a decent run in the fourth, and the game finished 71-55.
Derrick Jones Jr. vs. Montrezl Harrell
Derrick Jones Jr. and Montrezl Harrell decided to have a matchup between marquee point guards by choosing the Mavericks and Blazers. Jones Jr. would come to realize that his opponent was of a higher caliber than Kevin Durant, with the first quarter ending 20-16 in Harrell’s favor.
Jones Jr. rallied back from a 10-point deficit to get it within two points in the second quarter, but he wasn’t able to retake a lead and the underdog Harrell won a tight 71-66 battle.
Trae Young vs. DeAndre Ayton
It was a battle of LA between Trae Young and DeAndre Ayton, who went with the Clippers and Lakers. Ayton went up with an early 10-point lead in the first quarter, and maintained an advantage all the way until the third quarter.
The end of the third quarter saw Young finally come back and take a 51-50 lead, though. The two traded leads a few times but Ayton was able to grind out a 73-66 win, capping off yet another victory for an underdog in the quarterfinals.
Andre Drummond vs. Patrick Beverley
In the final game of the day, Andre Drummond and Patrick Beverley had a battle between Eastern Conference contenders with the 76ers and Bucks. Drummond grabbed an early 21-10 lead, frustrating the vocal Beverley, who fought back and cut his deficit to 36-30 by halftime.
Beverley, predictably, used hard defense to put himself back in the game and took at 41-40 lead in the third quarter. A buzzer beater at the end of of the quarter allowed Drummond to grab 46-45 lead, though. Beverley went on to win the game 69-62.
https://publish.twitter.com/?query=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNBA2K%2Fstatus%2F1248443120791900160&widget=TweetSemifinals matchups
The semifinals are going to be fun to watch, with Harrell and Booker matched up in one bracket along with Ayton and Beverley taking each other on for the right to play in the finals.
This leads to an interesting potential finals matchup between teammates Harrell and Beverley. If that were to happen, I’d want Beverley to win, because you know he would give Harrell grief about it every day for months or years to come.
