In real life, the Bulls might be down 2-1 and be driving an emptying bandwagon. But on the sticks in NBA 2K11, they are champions, says 2K Sports. Using 12-minute quarters with the latest roster updates on the All-Star difficulty, our friends over at 2K Sports simulated the conference finals and NBA Finals. It took seven games for Chicago to win a ring, seven ruthless games over the Dallas Mavericks with Derrick Rose blowing up for an average of 33 points and nearly 10 assists in Games 5-7. Not surprisingly, the NBA’s MVP won the Finals MVP as well.
How realistic was it? Well, the Mavs were up 3-1 in the Finals and yet somehow lost Game 5 at home before falling twice more to end it in Chicago. The 2K guys told me the game’s clutch ratings had a huge impact on the outcome.
Here are some highlights from the Finals, courtesy of 2K Sports:
How did they get there? Well, in the Western Conference, Dallas overcame OKC and Kevin Durant. KD put in work (33 points, 11 rebounds a game), but even his star couldn’t get it done. The Mavs were led by both Dirk Nowitzki (30 and nine a game) and Jason Kidd (turning back the clock to post seven points, five rebounds, eight assists and three steals a night) and won it in seven games.
In the East, LeBron (27 points, 8.6 rebounds a game) and D-Wade (25 and 5.6) carried weight for Miami. But it came down to rebounding – Chicago won that battle five out of seven times – and Mr. Rose. The 22-year-old MVP averaged 32.4 points and 7.6 assists a game in a 4-3 series win.
If you’re a Dallas fan, you might not want to read the next few sentences. In the NBA Finals, the Mavs were up 3-1, looking to close it out at home. But Luol Deng dropped 33 to bring it back to Chicago and then Carlos Boozer‘s 23 and 17 took the season down to one final game. In Game 7, Rose was a monster (42 points), while Dirk (even though he went for 25 and eight during the series) fell apart under the pressure (17 points on some ugly shooting).
Will it happen like this? Maybe. 2K11 is so realistic that in my Association work, I constantly find myself trading away expressive players because of the problems they cause. At the same time, I just lost to a seventh-seeded Rockets team and got lit up by Aaron Brooks and Francisco Garcia. Anything can happen.
Check out some photos, courtesy of 2K Sports:
“NBA 2K11 is the most realistic basketball simulation on the market,” said one of the game’s developers. “We strive to accurately recreate every detail of the NBA in the fullest capacity.”
2K told us that they anticipate making this simulation a yearly thing. In other spectacular news, it was also just announced that the NBA and 2K Sports have reached another deal allowing the popular series to continue in the future. If you’re a video game fanatic, it doesn’t get any better.
What’s your single best highlight in 2K11?
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