As sports leagues across the world cancel games due to the pandemic, the Phoenix Suns are trying to keep their fans engaged by playing out the rest of their schedule online. The Suns announced that they will host games of NBA 2K20on Twitch.
The first game took place on Friday (March 13) and featured Antonio "Universa lPhenom" Saldivar playing as the Suns, while the brand ambassador for Mavericks Gaming, Lawrence "Buddy" Norman, took the controls for the Mavericks.
The Suns treated it like a real game, live-tweeting highlights of the action from the digital court. Unfortunately for the Suns, Norman would go on to lead the Mavs to a 150-136 victory thanks to 50 points from Luka Doncic.
According to ESPN, the game was a success with a peak audience of more than 12,000 people and an average of between 4,500-5,000 viewers throughout the game.
"This was put together in as little as five hours, and the outcome was beyond expectations," Saldivar told ESPN. "We wanted to give the fans something to look forward to with everything going on and just try to interact with them as much as possible and try to bring both gaming and real-life sports together."
The Suns are scheduled to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves next week. They have not released the exact day or time that the game will take place.
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