Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns kicked up the dust of his old college rivalry when he took on Montrezl Harrell of Louisville in the Final Four of the NBA2K Players Tournament.
The Phoenix Suns were put aside for a bit because, in this Final Four matchup of the NBA 2K Players Tournament, Devin Booker of the University of Kentucky faced off against Montrezl Harrell from the University of Louisville.
If you are a casual college basketball viewer, you might think Duke and North Carolina have the most intense NCAA rivalry, but you’d be wrong. The Kentucky-Louisville hatred runs deep into the veins of all Kentuckians all year round. Duke-UNC fans just turn up for TV.
I guarantee this matchup will be the highest rated 2K Tourney matchup in the whole event because of all the sports-hungry Kentucky-Lousiville folks out there tuning in to get their rivalry juices flowing.
And to pretty much no one’s surprise, Kentucky dominated.
In the first game, Harrell played with the Houston Rockets while Booker chose to beat Harrell with his own team and took the LA Clippers.
Watching Booker beat up on Harrell with a virtual Harrell was the extra level of insult I didn’t realize I needed. Booker dominated from the opening tip, hitting a barrage of 3s on his way to a 15 point lead going into the 4th. In the final quarter, Booker yelled out that he was going to quit taking 2s and try to double him up.
It was great and made me yearn for a good Phoenix Suns team so Booker can consistently talk this kind of trash talk on the real court.
Harrell, on the other hand, was much quieter. It got to the point Booker said, “I don’t like the nice Trez. I want to hear the Trez I know on the court!”
Booker sealed up game-one 68-54.
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In game-two, Harrell was forced to pick the best team in the game, the Milwaukee Bucks, in a win-or-go-home situation. Well, win-or-STAY-home, I should say.
Stay at home, Harrell did.
This game was more competitive, as Booker’s Toronto Raptors weren’t quite on the Bucks’ level, but again, he hit a plethora of 3s on his way to a best-of-three game sweep.
Book was up by three in the closing seconds and went with the intentional foul strategy. He had a foul to give, so on the ensuing inbounds, he stole the pass and put the nail into the coffin of Harrell’s chances.
Booker has repped the Phoenix Suns well all tournament, but this time, it was all about adding another tally to the win column in the Kentucky vs. Lousivile rivalry.
Onto the championship for Booker.