Week 11 Recap
July 11, 2019
Pistons GT (1-13), playing loose and with nothing to lose, got off to a terrific start Wednesday, going 4-of-5 from behind the arc in the first quarter and having a 22-14 lead after the first six minutes. They opened that lead up to 10 points in the second quarter, but things went downhill from there. Second quarters have been a struggle all season for Pistons GT, and Wednesday night was nothing different, as Raptors Uprising GC (7-7) hit back-to-back three-pointers that kicked off a 12-2 run to tie the game at 28.
They’d ultimately take a 32-31 lead, their first of the ball game, late in the second period and the score would remain the same as the two teams headed into halftime.
Things remained fairly competitive in the third quarter, with Raptors Uprising and Pistons GT sharing baskets for majority of the period, but Raptors Uprising hit a deep three at the end of the third to extend their lead to five points heading into the final quarter. From there, Pistons GT simply couldn’t take the momentum back, especially considering that Raptors Uprising star Kenny Got Work decided it was time to take over.
On the back of Kenny Got Work, Raptors Uprising slowly pulled away in the fourth quarter, and they grew their lead to as large as 11, their biggest advantage of the game. And after a slow first half, Kenny Got Work finished with 18 points on a scorching 8-of-11 shooting from the floor. It was power forward KingQuai614, however, who lead the way scoring for his club, posting a team-high 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Center Sick x 973 was a point away from reaching double digits, but still had a monster stat line with nine points, 17 rebounds and three assists.
For Pistons GT, it was one of their better efforts in recent memory, but still wasn’t enough to put an end to their 11-game losing streak. The teams’ starts certainly came out to play, as point guard DevGoss and small forward iiNsaniTTy each dropped 22 points and shot a combined 58 percent from the field. Unfortunately for them, help was limited, as no other Pistons GT player was able to reach double figures.
While this matchup featured two teams at the bottom of the 2K League standings entering Week 11, Lakers Gaming (3-11) came out Wednesday like they had a playoff berth on the line. As a result, the game was essentially over by the end of the first quarter.
Lakers Gaming was active on defense and took advantage of all the resulting fastbreaks. They opened up the game on a staggering 21-2 run while shooting 11-of-14 from the field and forced Pistons GT (1-14) into nine turnovers across the first six minutes. Meanwhile, Pistons GT took just half as many shots and hit just two field goals.
Lakers Gaming had a 24-5 lead after the first quarter and went into halftime up 40-15, but the most impressive part of the first half was the play of Lakers Gaming small forward Kev. He went 7-of-12 from the field over the first 12 minutes and scored 19 points, outscoring Pistons GT on his own.
While Lakers Gaming went terribly cold to start the second half, Pistons GT still couldn’t get it any closer than 15 points, and Lakers Gaming did manage to pull away thanks to another explosive fourth quarter.
Kev, unsurprisingly, ended up leading the way for Lakers Gaming on Wednesday, scoring a game-high 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field, including 7-of-11 from behind the arc. In all, the team combined to shoot 62.2 percent from the floor, and as a result, four different players reached double figures. Small forward Safiya4Ya scored 15 points, while point guard Vert posted 14 points and 13 assists. Shooting guard KontruL rounded out the group with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
As for Pistons GT, the loss extended their losing streak to 13 games, as the 2019 season cannot end fast enough for them. Point guard DevGoss and small forward iiNsaniTTY led the way scoring again as the only players in double figures, but neither could really get anything going offensively. iiNsaniTTY finished with a game-high 14 points, while DevGoss managed to put up just 10 of his own. As a team, Pistons GT was incredibly sloppy with the ball, finishing with 22 turnovers.