It’s a stretch to say that watching two people play video games can get incredibly intense, but Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell certainly helped provide some excitement for sports-starved fans on Sunday evening.

Unfortunately for him, he was on the wrong end of the drama.

Playing as the 4-seed in the first round of the 16-player NBA 2K Players Tournament aired on ESPN2 against the 13-seed Rui Hachimura of the Washington Wizards, Mitchell, playing with the Brooklyn Nets (Hachimura was controlling the Los Angeles Lakers), missed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer with Spencer Dinwiddie that would have forced overtime and lost 74-71.

The loss eliminates Mitchell from the tournament. The eventual winner will choose a charity beneficiary to receive a $100,000 donation in support of COVID-19 relief efforts.

After Hachimura missed the second of two free throws with Lakers guard Danny Green with 4.9 seconds to play, Mitchell got the rebound with Kevin Durant and threw the ball up the floor to Kyrie Irving, who passed it to a wide open Dinwiddie. With less than two seconds left, Mitchell tried the shot with Dinwiddie, but it missed.

“That was a good game, bro,” Mitchell told Hachimura through his XBox One headset. “That’s tough. That’s tough. Man, my heart was racing, too.”

Continued Mitchell a few moments later, “That’s tough. Hate to see that. Let everybody down, man. I let everybody down. Lost in the first round.”

A few minutes after the game, Mitchell tweeted, “Good game @rui_8mura” and added four “laugh crying” emojis and a GIF of a person throwing a computer keyboard and smashing a monitor in frustration.

Dinwiddie also reacted, as he tweeted, “My guy @ShamsCharania just said @spidadmitchell missed a GW 3 with me against the @Lakers in @NBA2K... good thing we know that’s not realistic” and added the rolling on the floor laughing emoji.

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It was clear for most of the contest, which featured plenty of good-natured trash talk, that Mitchell was the superior gamer, but he trailed for much of it. Late in the fourth quarter, however, it appeared he would finally take control, as he led 63-59 with 2:17 remaining.

Just 43 seconds later, however, Hachimura had tied things up at 65, and he took the 69-67 lead with 1:07 left. After a Durant miss, Anthony Davis converted a 3-point play to put Hachimura up 72-67 with 46 seconds left.

Despite the deficit, Mitchell stayed in it until his final shot missed.

The remainder of the tournament will be played throughout this week, with games being aired on ESPN and ESPN2.

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