Warriors Gaming Squad Sends Hornets Venom to Series Sweep
July 2, 2020
Zae Posts Two Double-Doubles, Team Defense Struggles to Contain Golden State’s Shooting
Coming off a thrilling come-from-behind clinching game on Monday night against Orlando, Hornets Venom GT (7-4) just couldn’t put it all together in a tough 2-0 series loss to Warriors Gaming Squad on Wednesday, July 1.
For the second straight outing, Charlotte fell behind big right out of the gates, trailing 18-6 after the opening frame. Warriors Gaming continued to inch further ahead incrementally, leaving Hornets Venom little runaway to mount a comeback in what spiraled into a 73-52 defeat.
Center Zaeya “Zae” Ishak double-doubled with 17 points and 14 rebounds in the opening loss, while guards Justin “Snubby” Stemerman and Alex “Expose” Whelan each had 13 points. Warriors Gaming got a 38-point, eight-assist showing from guard Charles “CB13” Bostwick and another 22 points from fellow backcourt member Samuel “Gradient” Slayers.
Two-handed jam AND the foul for @ZaeBucks! 👊🏼 pic.twitter.com/kRfmUVws88
— Hornets Venom GT (@HornetsVenomGT) July 2, 2020
The visitors got off to a better start in Game 2 and held a 28-27 lead around the 2:30 mark of the second. Golden State quickly swung momentum though by closing out the frame on a back-breaking 14-0 run to take a 13-point lead into the break. Hornets Venom hovered around in third before another big fourth quarter run by Warriors Gaming closed out the 89-65 victory.
Snubby bounced back with 26 points in the loss, while Zae had another double-double with 22 points, 17 rebounds and three steals. CB13 (30 points and 14 assists) and center Malik “Slaughter” Leisinger (14 points and 15 rebounds) also both double-doubled for Golden State, which moved its record to 8-3 on the season following the victory.
.@Snubby21 delivering the and-1! 🚚 pic.twitter.com/LMtsbiyrhF
— Hornets Venom GT (@HornetsVenomGT) July 2, 2020
Warriors Gaming shot 66 percent across both games, which included a 70 percent mark in Game 2 and a 22-of-41 overall clip from three-point range (54 percent). And despite entering the night averaging less than 10 turnovers per game, Charlotte committed 25 total giveaways and connected on just 50 percent and 35 percent of its attempts from the field and three, respectively.
Hornets Venom will next host T-Wolves Gaming on Wednesday, July 8 starting at 9 PM EST. Catch the action on ESPN mobile, Twitch.TV/NBA2KLeague or YouTube Gaming.
by Sam Perley