Grizz Gaming falls 2-0 in quarterfinals of THE TIPOFF

Grizz Gaming fell to T-Wolves Gaming in the quarterfinal round of THE TIPOFF powered by AT&T, the first of three in-season NBA 2K League tournaments, Saturday night in a best-of-three series. The team went 3-1 in Group Play vs. Hawks Talon GC and Raptors Uprising GC before advancing to bracket play. 

Both teams got off to a slow start offensively in Game 1 as Grizz Gaming took a 13-12 lead into the second quarter. Starting the second half, the game was tied at 36-36 before the turnover bug would prove costly for Grizz Gaming. The Grizz turned the ball over 11 times in Game 1, compared to just two turnovers for T-Wolves Gaming. The T-Wolves outscored Memphis’ squad 45-27 in the second half to run away with an 81-63 win, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. BeardaBeast (Michael Key) led the T-Wolves with 26 points (11-19 FG), nine assists and three steals. Slaughter (Malik Leisinger) posted a double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. AuthenticAfrican (Mehyar Ahmed-Hassan) posted a double-double for Grizz Gaming with 20 points, 11 rebounds and three assists while shooting a perfect 10-for-10 from the field. Vandi (Zach Vandivier) added 21 points, nine assists and one rebound on 8-of-19 shooting in the Game 1 loss. 

Grizz Gaming needed to win Game 2 to keep the series, and the chance to advance to the semifinals, alive. They struggled to get shots to fall early on, falling behind 37-28 heading into the halftime break. Vandi found his stroke in the second half, scoring 25 of his 34 points in the final 12 minutes. However, it would not be enough, as T-Wolves gaming stretched their lead to 18 points after three quarters of play. T-Wolves Gaming racked up 23 assists to just three turnovers while limiting Grizz Gaming to 13 assists and 11 turnovers in the 83-69 loss in Game 2. ShiftyKaii (Shiftykaii White) totaled a game-high 35 points (13-22 FG), five assists and three steals to lead T-Wolves Gaming. Vandi finished with 34 points and six assists on 11-of-20 shooting for Memphis’ squad. Chess (Kory Taylor) added 17 points and three assists while knocking down 5-of-10 3-pointers. 

Grizz Gaming returns to the court on Friday, May 28, as they host Heat Check Gaming in the regular season opener at 8 p.m. CT. All regular season games will air live on the NBA 2K League’s Twitch and YouTube channels. To view the Grizz Gaming game exclusively, enter the ‘Command Center’ on the league’s Twitch channel.

Fans can visit the team’s website, grizzgaming.com, for all news, updates and happenings regarding the team. Additionally, fans can follow the team on Twitch at twitch.tv/grizzgaming, @grizzgaming on Twitter and Instagram, as well as GrizzliesGaming on Facebook to follow along with the team’s 2021 season.