Milwaukee and New York are back in the NBA Cup quarterfinals, just like they were a year ago. Atlanta and Orlando are heading there as well.
The first two quarterfinal matchups are set: Orlando goes to Milwaukee and Atlanta will visit New York on the Eastern Conference side of the bracket next week as the knockout stage of the NBA Cup gets underway. The Hawks-Knicks game will be Dec. 11, the Knicks announced.
Milwaukee (4-0) clinched its berth by beating Detroit to win East Group B on Tuesday, while New York (4-0) beat Orlando (3-1) to win East Group A. The Magic wound up as the East's wild-card by winning a point-differential tiebreaker over Boston. Atlanta (3-1) had previously wrapped up East Group C, largely because of a one-point win over the Celtics on Nov. 12.
Oklahoma City's win over Utah wound up giving the Thunder the West Group B title, and the Thunder joined Houston (West Group A) and Golden State (West Group C) as qualifiers; the Rockets and Warriors had clinched before Tuesday night. And Dallas rallied from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Memphis and to move closer to the West wild-card spot, which wouldn't be officially decided until the end of a late game between Portland and Sacramento.
“I like this Cup,” Mavericks star Luka Doncic said.
The four quarterfinal winners will meet in the semifinals at Las Vegas on Dec. 14, and the title game is there on Dec. 17.
“They put a tournament in front of us and we want to win it. And we said that early on,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “We’re 4-0 but we still have a lot of work to do, but the bottom line is, we earned a chance to play at home — I think.”
Even in Year 2 of the event, some still aren’t clear on all the rules. Yes, Doc, you’ll be at home for the quarters.
All the Magic had to do to clinch the wild-card spot was not lose by more than 37 points in order to stay ahead of Boston in the point-differential race. They found them trailing by — you guessed it — 37 points at New York late in the third quarter.
The Magic outscored the Knicks 40-18 the rest of the way, losing by 15 on the scoreboard but winning over the Celtics in the wild-card race.
“We earned our way into the quarterfinal," Magic forward Franz Wagner said. "Obviously, not our best game today but that’s why you play every minute in the other games. It feels weird after a game like this to advance, but that’s just part of it.”
The Magic got through thanks to the point differential. The Thunder edged Phoenix for the West Group B title on a head-to-head tiebreaker — both went 3-1 in group play, but the Suns' loss was to Oklahoma City.
“I don't really know much about the Cup and how it works and everything,” Thunder guard Cason Wallace said. “I just know I want to win.”
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