Home squad did not have foresight against defending champions No Way Out in APAC Invitational.
Home team LGE Eagles admitted that they underestimated their foes in the finals of the 2024 NBA 2K APAC Invitational, losing against Australia/New Zealand’s No Way Out in two games on Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Music Hall.
Despite going into the final as underdogs against the inaugural champions, LGE were found on the back foot as they were caught by surprise with No Way Out’s game plan, with the Aussies taking Game 1, 52-44.
In Game 2, LGE were on the verge of completing a spirited comeback before a three-point buzzer beater missed, giving No Way Out the sweep and back-to-back NBA 2K APAC Invitational titles, 52-50.
When the dust settled, Julian “PHI_SOCIAL” Mallillin said that they didn’t expect that type of fight from the defending champions.
“Honestly, I feel like we underestimated them kasi based from the game we saw yesterday, akala namin kayang kaya eh kasi they weren’t doing anything complicated naman, it’s all basic stuff.” he said.
“So I guess, the series we played tonight was very different kasi marami silang pinakita na hindi namin nakita yesterday.”
LGE’s loss mirrored NAOS Esports’ runner-up finish against No Way Out last year, which meant that Filipino squads are now 0-2 in their finals appearances in the NBA 2K tournament.
Though the Philippines has yet to win a title in the Invitational, which the country has hosted twice now, Cignal Chief Revenue Officer Gerard Milan expects the event to be held in Manila again next year.
With the hosting all but confirmed for the country, Philippine teams still have the chance to avenge their losses since the inaugural holding of the tournament.
“It’s been a very strong partnership between Cignal and the NBA, across all different types of activities. We’re very happy to be a partner of the NBA again for the second NBA 2K APAC Invitational [and] we look forward to a much bigger one and more exciting one again next year.” said Milan.
“I think we can look forward to [the Philippines hosting again]. It’s very exciting.” he added.