Hornets Venom GT Kicking Off Double-Matchup Week Against Mavs Gaming
June 9, 2021
By Sam Perley
- Hornets Venom GT (5-1) vs. Mavs Gaming (0-2)
- Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 9 PM EST (2 games)
- NBA 2K League Twitch and YouTube Channels
- Last time out: Hornets Venom GT won, 68-64, on May 20, 2020 (won series 2-1)
Sherm, PeteBeBallin Both Taking On Their Former Squad
After both spent the past two NBA 2K League seasons in Dallas, guard Justin “Sherm” Sherman and center Peter “PeteBeBallin” Malin have settled in nicely to their new Charlotte confines. Sherm is averaging 21.0 points, 10.5 assists (8th in the 2KL), just 1.7 turnovers and shooting 53% from distance, while PeteBeBallin is at 16.0 points on 90.2% shooting (2nd in the 2KL) and 10.8 rebounds.
The primary backing of Charlotte’s 5-1 start to the 2021 regular season continues to come in two particular areas: turnovers and three-point shooting. The team is currently averaging the fourth-fewest giveaways per outing (4.7) and accounted for just six across its two-game sweep of Raptors Uprising GC last Saturday night. And only THE TIPOFF Champion T-Wolves Gaming have a better long-distance efficiency right now than Hornets Venom GT (55.6%)
Re-Worked Mavs Gaming Starts 0-2 and Coming Off Bye Week
Tonight’s opponent has played just two regular season games before an early bye week, falling twice to juggernaut T-Wolves Gaming by an average of 17.5 points on May 26. The squad did go 2-2 in THE TIPOFF and advanced to the money round on the slimmest of point differential tiebreakers, although both victories came over Lakers Gaming, which is currently 0-4.
With Sherm out of the picture, 2KL Season 1 first overall pick Artreyo “Dimez” Boyd has struggled in his return to the point guard position, putting up 11.5 points on 39.1% shooting and 5.0 turnovers thus far. Jerry “SickOne” Knapp (13.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists) is now manning the center position and two-guard Wesley “GEN” McNair leads the team in scoring at 29.5 points per game on 57.5% shooting.
Matchup to Watch: Crown vs. Zae
First-year forward Kingsley “Crown” Braggs is coming off a career-high 22 points and six three-pointers in last Saturday’s Game 2 win over Raptors Uprising. He’ll be matched up against the player he replaced at Charlotte’s four spot in Zaeya “Zae” Ishak, who finished on the 2KL All-Rookie Team last year. Sherm and PeteBeBallin will certainly be looking to make a statement against their former team, meaning Crown needs to prevent Zae – who is averaging 6.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and gone 2-of-8 from three – from doing the same.