Monday 13 April 2020 07:23, UK
Devin Booker swept fellow Phoenix Suns team-mate Deandre Ayton to claim the title at the first-ever NBA 2K Players Tournament.
Booker won the first two games of a best-of-three final series, beating Ayton without playing as the Los Angeles Lakers, who are generally regarded as the best team in the game.
Playing as the Houston Rockets, Booker took the first game 72-62 from Ayton, who used the Lakers. He won the second 74-62 while playing as the Denver Nuggets against Ayton's Milwaukee Bucks.
"Feels good, bro," Booker said afterwards. "It was a talented field. I said from the beginning, it was going to be me and Deandre in the championship. We've played in the past, and he's definitely a gamer."
Booker, the fifth seed in the 16-player tournament, won $100,000 to donate to the coronavirus-relief charity of his choice.
Ayton, the 10th seed, trailed by only four at half-time of the first game after hitting a buzzer-beater with JaVale McGee. But Booker was red-hot from three-point range throughout the game, hitting 13-of-23 attempts, and also got 30 points from his bench to close it out.
In the second game, Booker pulled away after half-time, putting the exclamation point on the victory with a three-point play on a dunk by Paul Millsap with less than 90 seconds to go.
Both finalists swept a member of the LA Clippers on Saturday in the semi-finals, with Booker beating Montrezl Harrell and Ayton dispatching Patrick Beverley.
Booker played as the Clippers in the first game and cruised past Harrell, who played as the Rockets, capping the win with a dunk by Harrell's virtual character. In the second game, Booker (playing as the Toronto Raptors) came up with a steal off Harrell (Milwaukee Bucks) with a two-point lead in the final minute.
Ayton took the first game from Beverley playing as the Brooklyn Nets against Beverley's Boston Celtics, hitting a three-pointer in the final minute to put the game out of reach. In the second game, Ayton played as his own team, the Suns, and used a few big plays from his virtual character to handle Beverley's Nuggets.
