I had a lead at some point.

For the big 69th game of The Winter Jackpot, we get a little sporty with NBA 2K25! What did you forget I am an athletic girl?

So after waiting like 10 years for shaders to load in, I am loaded literally instantly into a game. Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Overtime with just 3 minutes to play. Now I assume we're already a couple minutes in because the Pistons were up 118-113 against the Denver Nuggets. Now I do suppose this at least gave me the opportunity to get experienced with the game. Understand the controls and know how the game works. This game uses more of a traditional 3rd person view more than the side view of 2K24. Like real NBA games. I quickly realize at least here that I only get to control my guy. Whoever the hell my guy is that I picked at the start. What a hell of a series I guess this apparently was. However... Detroit and the Pistons would stand on their feet as in the video game world... they finally win the NBA fi-so now I get to start an actual game. I figured... you know because I am a girl who likes to be challenged, go against the Thunder. Which was actually who the real Pistons played earlier that day. You know I keep forgetting these games are always like 1 year ahead. Which is why back at the start when it said game 7 of overtime... I don't know why but the first thought that went to my head was of a certain someone getting a pretty unfortunate injury at the start of game 7 in the 2025 finals. Thinking this game would... show something like that? Not what I wanted it too but that just came to mind. The game's called 2K25 but it released in 2024. Like how 2K24 was in 2023. And 2K26 was in 2025. Seriously why does 2K want to be a year ahead? Our starting lineup is Cunningham, Hardaway Jr., Thompson, Harris, and Duren. This roster definitely hasn't changed much. Albeit Hardaway Jr. is with Denver now. Well because I have no damn clue how to jump during the tip-off, Oklahoma CIty takes that as an advantage and very quickly I am down 2-0. Ah it's the first few seconds of the game. Cunningham and I take an easy 3 to make it 3-2 and holy shit the hoop is on fire. Things actually go back and forth for quite a while with the Thunder and my Pistons taking turns with the lead. After 1, I'm only down by 3. Not too bad! Only 15-12 Thunder. Yikes. Low scoring. It's like I set quarter times to be like 5 minutes each. XD!

Things would continue to be close in the 2nd for a bit. Though quite a few misses would definitely cost me. A 9-0 Thunder run and the Pistons call a timeout. Not my choice but I guess I should remember the default setting is that your team can call timeouts on your behalf. But... 2 three pointers. One by Stewart and one by Beasley and hey it's a 1 score game! And then it's not like a minute later. But it was once a one score lead! Thunder does increase their score a little before halftime. I do have a chance at the final shot but I just miss sadly. Down by 6 at half. A little work to do. With the ball to start the 2nd, I give Harris a 3 point bomb to make it a 1 score game again. However alas I once more begin to struggle... a lot... offensively and defensively. It's like suddenly I can't score and I can't stop. And now it's a fucking 15 point lead for Oklahoma City. Well shit. With like 7 and a half minutes left, I need a big run here. I do cut the Thunder's lead down to 10 with less than a minute to play in the 3rd. And with once again the final shot to take, I actually do nail a buzzer beater 3 pointer to make it a 9 point deficit. That's good but judging by this pattern, I'm not feeling too confident. Was I getting greedy with the 3's? Sure. But then again I couldn't even make basic buckets. Though with just a couple minutes to play, I did make it a 5 point game. It was getting close I admit. Once with a 15 point lead is now down to 5. Hell call it 4 with over 90 seconds to play. Holy shit it was possible!-it wasn't possible. Yeah it got back to a 10 point Thunder lead with 66 seconds left in the 4th and as the seconds ticked down, I simply conceded a 73-61 loss. Yeah the Thunder ran away with it. But look catch me a break okay? It was my first time playing NBA 2K25. Hell this might be my only time playing an NBA 2K game. But dammit it was fun! Certainly a lot funner than whatever the fuck that long drive ass game was.

At least here you don't get chased by creepy dudes because you wanna refill your gas.