Derrick Jones Jr.’s furious comeback attempt falls short in ‘NBA 2K20’ quarterfinals

Derrick Jones Jr.’s Cinderella run at the “NBA 2K20” “Players-Only” tournament is over. The Miami Heat forward nearly staged a furious comeback in the quarterfinals of the nationally televised esports tournament, but came up just short against Montrezl Harrell on Friday.

Jones, who used the Dallas Mavericks, trailed Harrell’s Portland Trail Blazers by 15 points in the final four minutes and cut the deficit down to three in the last 30 seconds before falling 71-66 on ESPN2.

The Los Angeles Clippers post player, who was the No. 8 seed in the tournament, advances to face Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker in the semifinals Saturday. The entire tournament has been broadcast on the ESPN family of networks while all major professional sports are suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic. The winner of the tournament chooses a charity to receive a $100,000 donation from the NBA, the National Basketball Players Association and 2K, the developer of “NBA 2K20.”

Jones’ run ends after he sprung an upset on top-seed Kevin Durant in the first round Friday. Jones was the No. 16 seed in the 16-player field — players were seeded based on their overall rating in the game — but dismantled the Brooklyn Nets forward for an 18-point win in the first round to reach the quarterfinals. He trailed throughout and was down big in the fourth quarter before reinserting Luka Doncic for the final minutes.

“You know Luka different in the fourth,” Jones told Harrell through the in-game voice chat.

The superstar combo guard made a layup, then found sharpshooting guard Seth Curry for a corner three-pointer to trim Harrell’s lead from 63-49 to 63-54. Doncic flushed home two more dunks, sandwiching a layup by Damian Lillard, then wing Tim Hardaway Jr. finished a dunk in transition to cut Harrell’s lead all the way down to 65-60. Jones eventually got the lead down to 69-66 in the last 15 seconds on a three-pointer by Hardaway, but Lillard hit two free throws on the other end to ice Harrell’s win.

“That was a great game,” Harrell told Jones.

For Jones, it was a welcome diversion from COVID-19 concerns and a welcome return to some sort of competitive activity on a national stage.

The forward told Harrell he has been spending much of his extra free time playing “NBA 2K20,” particularly in the game’s Neighborhood mode, which allows players to customize an avatar and play in massive online games with each individual player controlled by a different user. Jones, relatively introverted by nature, is never boisterous about his NBA 2K prowess, but he said last Thursday he’s secretly good at the game because of how frequently he plays the Neighborhood mode. With the NBA season suspended indefinitely and Heat facilities closed to players, he has more free time then ever.

Jones said he has been lifting weights and riding a stationary bike to stay in shape while away from basketball, but he mostly kept quiet throughout the game as he tried to stage his unsuccessful comeback.

“With everything going on — you can’t go out the house that much, and just got to be isolated from everything and everybody — it’s just good being able to go back and just have fun again,” Jones said, “basically play basketball, have fun.”