Kevin Durant Uses Clippers in Loss to Derrick Jones Jr. in ESPN NBA2K Tournament

The No. 1 overall seed in the NBA2K Players Tournament is out after the first round. 

Derrick Jones Jr., using the Milwaukee Bucks, defeated Kevin Durant, who used the Los Angeles Clippers, in a 78-62 rout. The Miami Heat star will now face the winner between Domantas Sabonis and Montrezl Harrell. 

Using the Bucks was a big strategic choice for the No. 16 seed since players are allowed to pick eight teams to use in the tournament but cannot use one more than once. That means Jones cannot use the Bucks—one of the highest-rated teams in the game—for the remainder of the competition. 

The game started off pretty tight in the first half, with both Durant and Jones trying to figure out each other's playing style. Durant took an early lead despite Jones hitting a buzzer-beating three through Donte DiVincenzo to close out the first quarter. 

By halftime, Jones had flipped things on Durant, taking a 35-31 lead into the break. That was the closest Durant would get the score in the second half, as Jones used a combination of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton to open up a 15-point lead. 

Middleton led all scorers with 22 points, while Giannis finished with 20 points. Durant relied mostly on Paul George, who scored 20. 

There wasn't too much trash-talking in this one, but both players commiserated over not being able to get on the court. They each said they hadn't picked up a ball in weeks. 

When Durant asked Jones what he thought of the NBA's rumored plan to hold a centralized playoffs in Las Vegas this summer, Jones, who played his college ball at UNLV, couldn't hold back his excitement.

"That would be dope," Jones said with a smile. "That's my stomping ground. That's my school."

It wasn't the last time Jones had a smile on during the game as he used a strong second-half performance to shut down Durant's chances of advancing.