The Magic and Knicks advanced to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas with victories on Tuesday. They’ll face each other in the East semifinal on Saturday at 5:30 ET, NBA Communications tweets.
Orlando was carried by a big outing from offseason acquisition Desmond Bane. He scored 37 points, while Jalen Suggs had 20 points and Paolo Banchero supplied 18. The Magic trailed by 13 after the first quarter, pulled within one by halftime, then outscored Miami 61-51 in the second half.
The Heat had four starters with at least 19 points, led by Norman Powell‘s 21.
The Knicks moved on with a 117-101 win over the Raptors. Jalen Brunson was the star of the game with 35 points. Josh Hart contributed 21 points and Karl-Anthony Towns tossed in 14 with 16 rebounds. Brandon Ingram led the Raptors with 31 points.
New York took control in the second quarter, outscoring Toronto 34-13.
The teams that were eliminated on Tuesday will now play each other on Monday, as the Heat will host the Raptors at 7:30 ET, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press tweets.
Meaningless money grab for the NBA.
Silver and his banking buddies grabble their hands in uncontrollable excitement at the additional revenue — stealing the NHL all-star format they’ll dazzle basketball fans from all over the world.
So even though the NBA cup thing is pretty meh, there is some extra intrigue after that Bane/Anunoby kerfuffle.