One of the biggest NBA 2K tournament organizators in Europe, IES completed its first season for the PlayStation 5 teams. After the teams faced each other in the normal season, the top 8 teams qualified for the playoff stage. Turkish 1907 Fenerbahce Esports and Spanish DUX Gaming made it to the final, and Fenerbahce became the champion by winning against DUX. Fenerbahce also clarified that they are one of the best teams in Europe by being champions in IES League, after the Shadow League 2K tournament.
Season 1 Matches
17 NBA 2K teams from Europe played matches to determine the standings of the season. After the matches, the top 8 teams qualified for the playoff stage. Two of the favorite teams, Fenerbahce and DUX, placed in the fourth and third spot respectively, at the end of the 2K IES League Season 1.
Quarter-Finals
The playoff matches are determined by the standings of the teams. For example, Hungry Hippos, who finished the season in the first place, matched with eFITNERS, who finished the season in the eighth place. So, Fenerbahce was matched with Falcons, while DUX matched with Takeover.
On the Bo3-formatted match, Fenerbahce won against Falcons by 2-1 and proceeded to the semi-finals. Hungry Hippos also proceeded to the semi-finals by winning against eFITNERS by 2-0 on the Bo3 series.
On the other hand, DUX Gaming qualified for the semifinals by eliminating Takeover. Their opponent was Guasones Gaming, who eliminated Legacy in the quarter-finals.
Semi-Finals
Although finishing the regular season in the first place, Hungry Hippos was not looking like a challenging team like Fenerbahce or DUX in the 2K IES League. To prove the opposite, they had to eliminate one of them, and the semi-final match gave them this opportunity.
The Bo5-formatted semi-finals series were going to determine the finalists. In the first match, Fenerbahce played much better than their opponents and won the game by 64-42. After that, Fenerbahce took the lead in the series by 1-0, and they only needed two more wins to qualify for the final stage. Just like the first match, Fenerbahce won the second game by 57-43 and made things much harder for Hungry Hippos. They had to win the remaining matches in order to stay in the tournament. Actually, they proved that they were able to do that on the third match, and Hungry Hippos won the match by 55-52. They also gained some confidence with that win. But with the leadership of Tansu Aksoy, Fenerbahce was ready to end this series on the fourth match. Fenerbahce won the fourth match with a little difference, 41-38, and proceeded to the final.
DUX wasn’t challenged in the semi-finals against Guasones, unlike Fenerbahce. They eliminated Guasones after the third match by winning 3-0 on the series.
Final
When the competitors of the tournament were announced, the fans kind of guessed the finalists. The fans were ready to see a final match between Fenerbahce and DUX in 2K IES League. The two teams always played faced against each other in different tournaments, and it was pretty obvious that this match will be just as exciting.
The champion is determined with a Bo5-formatted series. All the matches were head-to-head, both teams were wanting to be the champions of Europe. DUX won the first match by 54-50, and took the lead in the series by 1-0. Before the second match, DUX was planning to continue their winning streak, while Fenerbahce was discussing the game plans. Fenerbahce was much more ambitious than DUX, and they won the second match by 55-53. AveMario’s 16 points weren’t enough for DUX to continue their streak.
Until the end of the third period, DUX was playing better than Fenerbahce on the third match. At the end of the third period, the Spanish team was having a bad time. They started the last period by losing by 35-34. Fenerbahce was in a better mood, and they won the match by 49-43. Now, Fenerbahce was one win away from to become champion by leading in the series by 2-1.
Although losing the last match, DUX was still confident, and they showed it to the fans in the first half of the fourth match. They were leading the game by 26-25 at the end of the first half. But, Fenerbahce literally dominated the match in the third quarter by scoring more points than DUX scored in the first half. At the end of the third period, Fenerbahce was winning by 53-40. DUX tried everything to come back, but they couldn’t stop Fenerbahce. By gaining the 3-1 lead in the series, 1907 Fenerbahce Esports became the champion of 2K IES League Season 1 PS5 Europe tournament. Also, Fenerbahce’s Kadir Pektaş became the best defender of the tournament.
