NBA 2K19 Review: 6 Ups & 2 Downs

5. Better Defence

Defensively, 2K19 feels a lot tighter than last year's offering, making several notable advances across the board.

Stealing sits atop the list of improvements. 2K18 often felt like a coin flip, with even the most immaculately timed steals drawing fouls whenever the game felt like it. Even when you did tap the ball, it'd regularly go flying halfway across the court (as it did in 2K17), rendering the whole process useless. 2K19 not only makes it easier to read the situation, but come away with the rock whenever an opponent gets sloppy in possession.

The same goes for shot blocking, which feels a lot less clumsy this time around. The Intense D function isn't the one-cure-fits-all solution it was a year ago, either, so lazy players can no longer get away with incessantly squeezing LT or L2 to stifle an attack. It's still effective when used in appropriate situations, but spamming it doesn't work anymore.

All these changes leave 2K19's defence feeling tighter than ever, resulting in the most balanced gameplay flow the series has seen in years. The offensive skew is gone.