OTE Semi-Finals Preview

(1) Faze vs. (4) RWE
📍 Friday, Feb. 20 – 7:00 PM (Game 1)
📍 Saturday, Feb. 21 – 5:00 PM (Game 2)
📍 Thursday, Feb. 26 – 7:00 PM (Game 3)
📍 Saturday, Feb. 28 – 5:00 PM (Game 4, if nec.)
📍 Sunday, March 1 – 3:00 PM (Game 5, if nec.)

(2) YNG vs. (3) Cold Hearts
📍 Friday, Feb. 20 – 9:00 PM (Game 1)
📍 Saturday, Feb. 21 – 7:00 PM (Game 2)
📍 Thursday, Feb. 26 – 9:00 PM (Game 3)
📍 Saturday, Feb. 28 – 7:00 PM (Game 4, if nec.)
📍 Sunday, March 1 – 5:00 PM (Game 5, if nec.)

The first semi-finals series is between the two hottest teams in the league, FaZe and RWE. FaZe, the winners of an OTE record 14 straight games, swept their first round series with the City Reapers by an average of 18.5 PPG. On the other hand, RWE overcame their demons, sweeping Fear of God Athletics out of the first round and in doing so avenged their shocking upset loss to FGA in the quarterfinals last season. Now these two teams meet in what should be one of the most electric semi-finals series the league has ever seen ⚡

There has never been a hotter team at OTE than FaZe is right now and they have the data to back it up. According to OTE’s advanced analytics, FaZe currently sits with a 48% chance to win the title which is over 25% higher than the next highest team (RWE currently has a 22% chance of winning it all). FaZe’s three-headed monster of DaKari Spear, Marcus Spears Jr. and Austin Goosby might be the most formidable trio the league has ever seen. With that said none of them were even the best player for FaZe in the first round as that honor belongs to Seven Spurlock. Spurlock led the team in scoring at 22.5 PPG after not crossing the 20-point threshold a single time in the regular season 🎮

If RWE hopes to take down FaZe they will need more performances from Taylen Kinney like the ones they got in the first round. Kinney averaged 28 PPG in the two first round games and was the unquestioned best player on the court for the entirety of the series. In RWE’s closeout game, Kinney scored a team-high 32 points which included going a blistering 5-for-5 from three, the first time anyone has ever shot 100% from three in a playoff game on five or more attempts. Javon Bardwell will be out for the first two games of the series so Kinney will need big time performances from his other co-stars, Parker Robinson and Mathias Alessanco 🔥

The second semi-finals series is between the two most heated rivals the league has currently: the YNG Dreamerz and the Cold Hearts. The Dreamerz swept the Blue Checks in the first round while it took the Cold Hearts three games to get through Jelly Fam. Now that these two are slated to meet in the semis, all eyes are on MVP Isaac Ellis and MVP runner-up Adam Oumiddoch to see which of these two OTE legends can carry their team to the OTE Finals 😤

The Dreamerz are led by two of the greatest scorers OTE has ever seen in Isaac Ellis and Caleb Jones. Ellis and Jones have combined to average 69.5 PPG in the playoffs, as they are first and second in the league in playoff scoring, respectively. If Ellis keeps up his pace of 39.5 PPG, he will shatter the single season playoff scoring record and he is already second all-time in career playoff points, only trailing his brother. Meanwhile, between the regular season and playoffs, Jones is averaging 27.9 PPG and if he keeps that up he will finish the year with the highest career scoring average of any player in OTE history 💪

The Cold Hearts come into this series with a chip on their shoulder and a point to prove after they fell at the hands of the YNG Dreamerz in this same round in last year’s playoffs. Adam Oumiddoch, who the Cold Hearts team feels like was snubbed from the OTE MVP, has been dynamite in the playoffs, leading the team in scoring in the playoffs with 26.7 PPG. In addition, he had an elite 27 point, seven rebound and five steal close out game against Jelly Fam in the first round. The Cold Hearts have made the last three semi-finals and Oumiddoch is the only player to have been on all three of those teams. Oumiddoch is hopeful this is the year he can get the Cold Hearts over the hump and into their first OTE Finals in program history 🥶

The OTE Semi-Finals tip off tonight at 7 PM with game one of FaZe vs. RWE before the first meeting between YNG and the Cold Hearts since the OTE MVP was announced at 9 PM. All OTE playoff games can be watched on OTE’s YouTube channel 📱

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