Booker Moves on, Cousins Falls in First Round of NBA2K Tournament

On3 imageby:Zack Geoghegan04/05/20

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One moves on, the other goes home (or stays home?) Devin Booker (Suns) advanced to round two of the NBA2K Tournament after he took down Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets) in the popular video game on Sunday night. DeMarcus Cousins, on the other hand, took a brutal loss at the hands of Andre Drummond (Cavaliers) in his first-round matchup. Here's what happened on ESPN2. Booker-Porter was the third game of the evening - the first of our two - with Booker coming away in a tightly contested 77-69 win. The former 'Cat decided to run with the Milwaukee Bucks while Porter Jr. went with the Los Angeles Lakers (the Bucks and Lakers have been the most commonly used teams in the tournament thus far). Porter Jr. opened up the conversation by asking Booker if he was going to run with the team he plays for, the Phoenix Suns, but Booker didn't sound too enthused about the idea. https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1246953188831318017 https://twitter.com/DevinBook/status/1246961150618525696 But can you blame him? The Suns are ass and probably not much better in a video game. Booker didn't even choose the Suns as one of the eight teams that he can pool from throughout the tourney. The Bucks proved to be a much wiser decision... Porter Jr. would open up the game with an early lead, jumping out to an eight-point advantage in the first quarter that quickly led to some trash talking. The former Mizzou forward was already bragging that he was going to push his lead to double-digits, but Booker put an end to that in the form of a Greek Freak. Once Booker figured out his gameplan, he took control. Essentially, he would either run a series of pick-and-pops with Giannis Antetokounmpo as the ball handler and Brook Lopez sliding out beyond the perimeter OR he would run a "horns" set with Giannis where he literally ran clear around the Lakers defense. https://twitter.com/NBA2K/status/1246957089840222208 At halftime, Booker's team led 42-36. Porter would keep the game close throughout the third quarter, holding Booker within 10 points, however, outside shooting proved to be the difference. Booker had already made nine three-pointers before Porter finally made his first attempt from deep in the middle of the third quarter. With roughly two minutes left, Porter managed to cut Booker's lead all the way down to just two points, but again, the three-ball was too much. A big triple from Booker with under 50 seconds left put his squad up 77-69 that ultimately led to his 85-75 victory. After watching the first two rounds, Booker has to be the favorite to win the whole thing. It's either him or Trae Young (Hawks). Booker was constantly calling plays, switching up the defensive settings, and knew exactly how to play the CPU when he was on defense. Porter wasn't an inferior opponent by any means.; if he had played anyone else not named Booker or Young, he probably moves to the next round. Does Vegas have odds on this stuff yet? (They do, actually - Booker is the favorite) He is also VERY into this whole thing. https://twitter.com/protectedpick/status/1246965637806723073 Booker will now move onto the quarterfinals, where he'll take on Rui Hachimura (Wizards), who narrowly beat Donovan Mitchell in their meeting. As a reminder, since Booker used the Bucks in his opening game, he cannot use them for the rest of the tournament. The same goes for Hachimura and the Lakers, who he used to take down Mitchell. As for Cousins, he didn't have as much success in his opening-round game. Running with the Brooklyn Nets, he was taken to the woodshed by Andre Drummond, who played as the Los Angeles Lakers. Drummond nearly picked his current team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, to which Boogie responded with "You know something I don't?" but Drummond then promptly switched to the Lakers. https://twitter.com/NBA2K/status/1246968133602033664 It was a tale of two halves for Cousins and his Nets. The game was always close throughout the first two quarters, although Boogie could never take control of Drummond's lead. At the intermission, Drummond led 42-35. I'll go ahead and spoil the second-half; Drummond wins by 52 (101-49). The two kept the discussions entertaining until the final buzzer, but Drummond was clearly the better gamer. https://twitter.com/TSN_Sports/status/1246979968950812672 https://twitter.com/rodger/status/1246980022075715585 The quarterfinals will air this coming Tuesday on April 7 starting at 7 p.m. on ESPN2. We are all Team Booker now.

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2024-03-28