NBA 2K Players Tournament Results: Kevin Durant Eliminated in First Round by Derrick Jones Jr.
The NBA 2K Player Tournament results for the first round have already seen the biggest upset based on seeding. The No. 1 seed Kevin Durant of the Nets was a decent size favorite heading into the first round against No. 16 seed Derrick Jones Jr. of the Heat. However, Jones showed that seeds may not really matter when it comes to playing on the virtual hardwood.
Derrick Jones Jr. eliminates No. 1 seed Kevin Durant
In the NBA 2K Players Tournament, the NBA stars are seeded by their rating in the NBA 2K20 video game. That put Kevin Durant as No. 1 easily, as he’s the best player in the field. He was also one of the top two favorites in the odds to win the 2K tournament. However, playing a video game is a lot different than just playing as yourself in real life.
KD met up with Derrick Jones Jr. in the first game of the tournament, with ESPN providing televised coverage. Jones put on an impressive performance using his team of choice the Milwaukee Bucks. While he trailed early in the game, he was soon ahead by four points at the half.
Jones continued to build on the lead throughout the second half, pushing it to double-digits. KD was unable to get the necessary stops or big shots using his first team of choice, the Los Angeles Clippers. In the end, Jones Jr. picked up a dominant 78-62 victory, bouncing KD from the tournament. Here’s a look at the final stats for the two teams.
For the format of the NBA 2K Players Tournament, each competitor picks eight teams they will use during the competition. Once they’ve used a team, they are unable to use that team again. So that means Derrick Jones Jr. is not able to use the Milwaukee Bucks again in the tournament. Most likely, he has the Los Angeles Lakers amongst his next seven, so stay tuned to see who he goes with next.
Other NBA 2K Players Tournament results, schedule
The first of the NBA 2K Players Tournament results means that Kevin Durant is eliminated and Derrick Jones Jr. is moving on. The Miami Heat star will play the winner of the Jones will wait to see who his next opponent is. He’ll take on the winner of the No. 8 Montrezl Harrell vs. No. 9 Domantas Sabonis matchup.
In the second game of the night, the Phoenix Suns’ DeAndre Ayton took on Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls. Ayton used the Houston Rockets while LaVine went with the Miami Heat for his first team.
Two other matchups were on the schedule for Friday night, with ESPN2 showing those games as well. They featured Harrison Barnes battling No. 2 seed Trae Young and Patrick Beverly vs. Hassan Whiteside.
NBA 2K Players Tournament results – First Round (Apr. 3)
- #16 Derrick Jones Jr (Bucks) def. #1 Kevin Durant (Clippers), 78-62
- #10 DeAndre Ayton (Rockets) def. #7 Zach LaVine (Heat), 57-41
- #15 Harrison Barnes vs. #2 Trae Young – TBD
- #14 Patrick Beverly vs. #3 Hassan Whiteside – TBD
Sunday brings the next four matchups of the NBA 2K Players Tournament.
- Domantas Sabonis vs. Montrezl Harrell – 6 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
- Rui Hachimura vs. Donovan Mitchell – 7 p.m. ET. (ESPN2)
- Michael Porter Jr. vs. Devin Booker – 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
- DeMarcus Cousins vs. Andre Drummond – 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Visit our NBA 2K news page for more of the latest game updates.