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NBA 2K Players Tournament quarterfinals: Deandre Ayton sneaks past Trae Young late

Ryan Young
·Staff writer
Updated ·3-min read

The closest thing we have to live basketball made its long-awaited return.

The NBA 2K Players Tournament quarterfinals were held on Thursday night on ESPN2, providing fans with four extremely entertaining matchups as the field is starting to narrow down.

Devin Booker, Montrezl Harrell surge ahead late

The first two games of the night were competitive early, but neither stayed that way.

By the end, both Devin Booker and Montrezl Harrell had picked up easy wins to reach the semifinals.

Booker, using the Dallas Mavericks, pushed ahead in the second half to put away Washington Wizards rookie Rui Hachimura, who was playing with the Los Angeles Clippers, 71-55.

Harrell, armed with the Portland Trail Blazers, beat Derrick Jones Jr. 71-66 with a similar second-half run. Jones did make a last-ditch effort late in the fourth quarter to close the gap, however it just wasn’t quite enough.

Harrell and Booker will now advance to the semifinals, where they’ll face off against each other.

Deandre Ayton sneaks past Trae Young

Trae Young came out hot in the first round of the tournament last week, sprinting to a 42-point win over Harrison Barnes.

His run, though, has come to an end.

The Atlanta Hawks star, armed with the Los Angeles Lakers, fell to Phoenix Suns big man Deandre Ayton, who had the Clippers, 73-66.

While it didn’t go Young’s way, their matchup was easily the best one of the night. Not only did it pit two NBA powerhouses against one another in a matchup that would have been exciting in real life, but it was tight all the way through. Young held just a one-point lead headed into the fourth quarter, and Ayton didn’t pull away until the final minute.

Pat Beverley pulls ahead

It took him a while to get going, but Patrick Beverley is on to the semifinals.

Beverley, with the Philadelphia 76ers, rallied late to top Andre Drummond, who was playing with the Milwaukee Bucks, 69-62 in the final game of the night.

Drummond didn’t waste any time. He jumped out to a quick 21-10 lead in the first quarter, silencing the usually talkative Beverley.

That lead, though, didn’t last long. By the start of the fourth quarter, Drummond held just a one-point lead — which he reclaimed with a buzzer-beater to end the third.

Minutes later, though, Beverley was in complete control.

The Clippers guard pulled ahead to grab the seven-point win, which sparked a wild celebration in his home.

Beverly will move on to the semifinals, where he’ll square up with Ayton.

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