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, the league confirmed (via Twitter).
Orlando was carried by a big outing from offseason acquisition Desmond Bane. He scored 37 points, while Jalen Suggs added 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.
The Suns and Thunder will square off in the first of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Wednesday, with the Lakers and Spurs playing in the late game. The winners of those two contests will face one another in the West semifinal on Saturday.
Meaningless money grab for the NBA.
Don’t watch it, you don’t have to, right?
It would be one thing if they only had it every couple of years, but having it every single season just feels so silly.
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.
Euro basketball has been doing this since its inception.
So even though the NBA cup thing is pretty meh, there is some extra intrigue after that Bane/Anunoby kerfuffle.
They were laughing and hugging it out 3 minutes later.
Bane had a big game. 37 points tonight. I know he wants the Knicks. Too bad they won’t have Wagner.
Least relevant “championship” in all of pro sports. No one cares who wins this, and the winners should not care at all about it. These are regular season games, they are just 1 of 82. Same as the rest. Just played on ugly courts that are mostly hard to watch on tv.
So why wouldn’t you want to win a regular season game. It only means something to the two teams in the Finals. Why make up stuff to hate …… its a basketball game played by the best in the world. What’s not to like.
The courts that hurt our eyes?
I was surprised that both games weren’t close. Also, f*ck Peacock and Amazon Prime
Why does everyone b*tch so much about the NBA Cup? Even if you think it’s dumb, it’s not as though it’s upending the NBA season and significantly altering the way teams strategize. In fact, if it’s so irrelevant to you, why does it bother you so much?
Amazing how much hate and negativity folks carry around. They are regular season games. With a new spin. Nothing new here except the courts.
“Amazing how much hate and negativity folks carry around.”
This is quite rich coming from you, lol.
I think the main reasons for complaining are A) the ugly courts make watching games slightly more difficult, B) the ad campaigns attached to it are obnoxious, and C) the championship game isn’t a regular season game. It’s a glorified exhibition game in a sport where players already complain that there are too many games and injuries can decimate teams. Imagine if Haliburton or Tatum had torn their Achilles in this silly championship game that is ultimately meaningless? Does anyone remember who played in last year’s game? The year before? Does anyone really care?
There’s also the reason that the NBA is just doing a shameless cash-grab and promotion and pretending it means something when it doesn’t. I don’t know why people hating this silly thing bothers you so much?