The Phoenix Suns have gotten creative during the NBA suspension and are playing out their remaining games on NBA2K. In game two, they blew out the Timberwolves.
To fill the sports void the coronavirus-induced NBA suspension has left in us all, the Phoenix Suns have turned to NBA2K, and it is kind of freaking amazing.
It started last week when they simulated the game against the Dallas Mavericks. They had two gamers man the controllers and behind virtual Luka Doncic‘s 50 spot, the Mavs took down the win.
On Wednesday night, the Suns ran it back on Twitch against the team they would have played in real life, the Minnesota Timberwolves. But this time, they handed the sticks to one of their many backup point guards, Ty Jerome.
On the other side, Minnesota’s Josh Okogie accepted the challenge and repped his Timberwolves on XBOX.
I turned on Twitch at tipoff with the expectation my attention span would be somewhere between a toddler and goldfish. I dabble in 2K myself but watching an hour of two guys battling on my phone screen did not scream guaranteed entertainment.
I was wrong. Very wrong.
Maybe it was partly because it was Ty Jerome controlling the Suns, a guy who I’ve watched and written about enough I feel invested in his success, but I was instantly hooked.
After a shaky start where Jerome did nothing but miss a barrage of layups, the rookie found his groove and slowly pulled his team into the lead.
After he got up double digits, Okogie and his animated Timberwolves started playing desperately, and it led to several ill-advised, jacked-up, deep 3s.
We all have 2K friends like that.
The rookie Jerome, on the other hand, played like a 2K vet, hitting fast breaks, pick-and-rolls, and doing more pump-fakes than I have ever done in my entire 2K career.
The combination of desperate and efficient play led to Jerome treating Okogie like he was a misbehaving kid and Ty was a1950s school principle with a fresh paddle.
The 3D Suns demolished the Timberwolves 93-63.
Just like in real life, Devin Booker led the team in scoring, pouring in 29 points on 12-21 shooting and going 1-3 from behind the arc.
Also, not unlike the corresponding flesh version, Ricky Rubio led the team in assists with six and chipped in five points.
After that, the Suns had very balanced scoring. Cameron Johnson was the only other player in double figures with 12 and mimicked his real-world self by not missing from 3-point range (2 for 2).
Deandre Ayton nearly had a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds, and for that matter, so did Aron Baynes did as well with eight points and nine rebounds.
In the least surprising yet most Inception-worthy news from the stream, Ty Jerome played with Ty Jerome a lot, manually subbing him in repeatedly the same way we all would if it were us. Ty Jerome finished scoring eight points and dishing out three assists with Ty Jerome.
The Phoenix Suns are now 1-1 in this simulated exercise and I’m painfully looking forward to the next Twitch rendition on Friday.
Full box score for the Suns:
Booker: 29 points /5 rebounds /3 assists, 12-21 FG, 1-3 3P
Cam: 12 points/3 rebounds/1 steal, 4-5 FG, 2-2 3P
Dario: 9 points/3 rebounds/1 steal, 4-6 FG, 1-1 3P
Jerome: 8 points/3 assists, 3-6 FG, 0-1 3P
Ayton: 8 points/10 rebounds/4 steals/1 block, 4-8 FG
Baynes: 8 points/9 rebounds/1 assist/1 steal/2 blocks, 2-7 FG
Carter: 6 points/1 assist/3 steals, 3-4 FG, 0-1 3P
Okobo: 1 rebound/1 assist
Bridges: 2 points/2 rebounds/2 assists/1 steal, 1-5 FG, 0-1 3P
Rubio: 5 points/1 rebound/6 assists/1 steal, 2-7 FG, 0-1 3P
Kaminsky: 3 points/2 rebound/1 assist/1 block, 1-1 FG, 1-1 3P
Diallo: 2 points/4 rebonds/2 assists/2 steals, 0-1 FG
Oubre: 1 point/3 rebounds/2 assists, 0-3 FG, 0-1 3P