The No. 1 seed by virtue of being the highest ranked player in the game, Durant selected the Los Angeles Clippers in his opening game on Friday evening but lost 78-62 against No. 16 seed Derrick Jones Jr., who controlled the Milwaukee Bucks instead. The Clippers and the Bucks were by far the most popular teams in the first round, with each franchise picked four times in the eight matchups.
On the same night, Atlanta Haws guard Trae Young thrashed Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes 101-59, while Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine lost to Deandre Ayton, the first overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft, 57-41 and Clippers guard Patrick Beverley overcame Portland Trail Blazers center Hassan Whiteside 84-54.
The first round was completed on Sunday night, with Cleveland Cavaliers center Andre Drummond thrashing former Golden State Warriors big man Cousins 101-49 and Clippers center Montrezl Harrell defeating Indiana Pacers counterpart Domantas Sabonis 73-51. The duo were the first players to use their real-life teams in the tournament after their colleagues had opted to pick teams other than those they play for.
Sunday’s games also produced two of the closest matches of the opening round, with Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker defeating Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. 85-75, while Washington Wizards forward Rui Hachimura edged Mitchell 74-71.
Throughout the first round matchups, the 16 players involved streamed themselves playing their individual games and used the matchups to discuss how they are coping with the lockdown that has affected the overwhelming majority of Americans in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Durant admitted he has not touched a basketball for some time as he continues to recover from the Achilles heel injury that ruled him out of action this season, while Jones Jr. has tried to remain as sharp as possible by conducting shooting drills at his home in Florida.
The quarterfinals will take place on Thursday and will see Young face Ayton, while Beverley takes on Drummond and Jones Jr. will go head-to-head with Harrell. Hachimura and Booker, meanwhile, will complete the picture in when they face each other in the last quarterfinal matchup.
While Young revealed he only took up gaming recently, in July last year Drummond finished second in an NBA players tournament for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile. Hachimura, Mitchell and Booker are also renowned gamers and the latter is a member of 100 Thieves, the eSports team founded by former professional Call of Duty player Matthew Haag.
The NBA and 2K launched the tournament last week in partnership with ESPN, with both the league and the broadcaster looking to give fans something to look forward to while the season is suspended indefinitely because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The winner will be crowned the ultimate NBA 2K20 champion and select a charity beneficiary to receive a $100,000 donation from 2K, the NBA and the NBPA in support of ongoing coronavirus relief efforts.
Here’s all you need to know ahead of the quarterfinals.
TV coverage
Thursday, April 9
ESPN2, 7 - 11 p. m. ET
Live stream
All games will be live streamed on the ESPN App and will be re-aired on NBA.com, the NBA App, and 2K and NBA social channels including Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook.
How does the tournament work?
Every player can choose eight of the current NBA teams, each of which can only be used once. Should two players who are scheduled to play each other pick the same teams, the away team will be awarded first choice of team.
The quarterfinals will follow a single elimination format, with the semifinals and finals decided on a best-of-three basis.
