Lakers Gaming Vegas-Bound for THE TURN debut
May 8, 2019
Lakers Gaming will try its luck on the Las Vegas Strip this week as part of THE TURN — the first tournament outside of New York in NBA 2K League history.
Lakers Gaming will make its debut on Thursday at 5 p.m. PT, when it takes on Knicks Gaming in a play-in game. All matches will be livestreamed on Twitch and YouTube from HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor Hotel and Casino.
A $180,000 prize pool is at stake, with $90,720 and a championship banner awarded to the tournament champion. The remaining money will be split amongst the remaining top eight squads.
Lakers Gaming (1-4) enters the week as the 16 seed — one spot ahead of Knicks Gaming (1-4). Following the play-in games, the single-elimination tournament continues with Friday’s first round. The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship are all on Saturday.
THE TURN will also feature a new wrinkle, the “Archetype Ban,” which will have each team determine an archetype (a preset collection of player skills, like a lockdown defender or slasher) that its opponent cannot use.
So far, Lakers Gaming has been led by its sharpshooter, Kev, who is averaging a team-high 14.4 points. Mootyy (9.4 points, 12.4 rebounds) is nearly averaging a double-double, while Vert is among the league’s steals leaders (2.8).