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11/28 23:50 CST The NBA Cup quarterfinal field is set: Heat-Magic,
Knicks-Raptors, Suns-Thunder, Spurs-Lakers
The NBA Cup quarterfinal field is set: Heat-Magic, Knicks-Raptors,
Suns-Thunder, Spurs-Lakers
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
The NBA Cup quarterfinal field was set Friday night, with Miami going to
Orlando and New York going to Toronto on the Eastern Conference side, followed
by an Oklahoma City-Phoenix rematch and San Antonio facing the Los Angeles
Lakers in the Western Conference.
And the defending Cup champions won't have a chance to go back-to-back in Las
Vegas.
New York got the last of the four available berths in the East on Friday night,
topping the reigning Cup champion Milwaukee Bucks 118-109 to win East Group C.
The Bucks' loss prevented them from moving on to the quarterfinals.
"I told the guys they did a heck of a job finding a way," Knicks coach Mike
Brown said.
Toronto won East Group A, Orlando won East Group B, and both did so with 4-0
records. The Knicks went 3-1 in Group C and finished on top because they held
the head-to-head tiebreaker over Miami, which also finished 3-1 to earn the
East wild card.
Oklahoma City --- the defending NBA champion which is now 19-1 on the season
--- held off Phoenix to win West Group A and grab a quarterfinal spot, and San
Antonio emerged from a back-and-forth battle in the final minutes to beat
Denver in the game that decided West Group C and another quarterfinal berth.
"I don't know much about it other than the guys are really excited about it,"
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "I know we're in because we won. I know we beat
some really good teams to do it ... so we feel really good about it."
The Suns went 3-1 in group play and earned the West's wild-card spot. Their
reward? A rematch with the Thunder in the quarterfinals.
"They're feisty as hell. They play hard," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of
the Suns.
The quarterfinal games will be played either Dec. 9 or Dec. 10. The Magic won
their group with a 112-109 victory over Detroit on Friday night --- and as the
East's top seed, they will play the wild-card Heat.
"We're so happy to be home," Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. "We have some of
the best fans in the NBA. They're going to be back there, supporting us, ready
to go. ... For us to do this is very special for our guys right now."
The Heat-Magic, Knicks-Raptors and Thunder-Suns games will create a bit of a
schedule quirk. The quarterfinal games count toward the regular season records,
so Miami and Orlando will wind up playing five times this season --- the first
time that's happened in the Sunshine State rivalry since 1993-94. The Knicks
and Raptors will now also meet five times this season, as will the Thunder and
Suns.
The Heat play a regular-season game at Orlando on Dec. 5, their second time
there this season, then will go back for a Cup quarterfinal a few days later.
"It's great," Orlando's Desmond Bane said when told the Magic got a home Cup
quarterfinal. "We're building. We're building something special."
The Lakers, who won the inaugural Cup in 2023, were the only West team to be
assured of a quarterfinal spot going into Friday.
What happens next The 22 teams that missed the quarterfinals will all have two regular-season games added to their schedules in the coming days, to push their total to the full 82. All teams entered the season with only 80 games on the calendar to allow for what happens in the NBA Cup. Those additional regular-season games for those 22 teams --- one will be home, one will be on the road --- will be scheduled for Dec. 11, Dec. 12, Dec. 14 or Dec. 15. For the teams that move on, the quarterfinals become game No. 81. The teams that lose in the quarterfinals will play the other quarterfinal loser from their conference, filling out the remaining game on their schedule. The semifinals are in Las Vegas on Dec. 13 and those games will also count toward the regular-season standings. The championship game --- which doesn't count in the standings --- is in Las Vegas on Dec. 16.
Money matters Players on the quarterfinal teams will each get $53,903. The payout increases to $106,187 for berths in the semifinals, $212,373 for a spot in the final --- and $530,933 for each player on the winning team. Two-way players will receive half those amounts, if applicable. ___ AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
What happens next The 22 teams that missed the quarterfinals will all have two regular-season games added to their schedules in the coming days, to push their total to the full 82. All teams entered the season with only 80 games on the calendar to allow for what happens in the NBA Cup. Those additional regular-season games for those 22 teams --- one will be home, one will be on the road --- will be scheduled for Dec. 11, Dec. 12, Dec. 14 or Dec. 15. For the teams that move on, the quarterfinals become game No. 81. The teams that lose in the quarterfinals will play the other quarterfinal loser from their conference, filling out the remaining game on their schedule. The semifinals are in Las Vegas on Dec. 13 and those games will also count toward the regular-season standings. The championship game --- which doesn't count in the standings --- is in Las Vegas on Dec. 16.
Money matters Players on the quarterfinal teams will each get $53,903. The payout increases to $106,187 for berths in the semifinals, $212,373 for a spot in the final --- and $530,933 for each player on the winning team. Two-way players will receive half those amounts, if applicable. ___ AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
