The NBA Cup’s group stage is officially over. There were 11 games on Tuesday night, and there were still five of eight spots in the knockout round that had not been determined. We now know the eight teams that will take part in the knockout round. They will battle it out to decide who will be the second-ever NBA Cup winner (known as In-Season Tournament last season).
Last season, the Los Angeles Lakers were crowned the first-ever winners of the tournament. This year, they will not have the opportunity to defend their crown. Four teams in both conferences advanced to the knockout round after group stage play has come to a close. The four teams in the Eastern Conference will be the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, and Orlando Magic. In addition, the Western Conference’s four teams are the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, and Dallas Mavericks. While they didn’t win their groups, the Magic and Mavericks earned spots as wild cards in their conferences as the teams with the best point differentials that didn’t win their group. As a result of their 4-0 records and excellent point differentials, the Bucks and Thunder finished as their conference’s top seeds.
Emirates NBA Cup Schedule For Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Finals
4 Matchups in the NBA Cup Quarterfinals
The quarterfinals will be taking place on Tuesday, December 10 and Wednesday, December 11. There will be two games on both days, with Tuesday’s games airing on TNT. The first game on Wednesday is on ESPN, and the second is on TNT. The team with the higher seed in these games will be playing at home.
On December 10, the two games will be the Magic at Bucks at 7 PM ET and Mavericks at Thunder at 9:30 PM ET. December 11 sees the Hawks pitted against the Knicks at MSG at 7 PM ET and the Warriors at Rockets at 9:30 PM ET. Being this is known as the knockout round, it’s simple. Win to advance, lose, and you’re eliminated.
It should be an electric atmosphere at Madison Square Garden next Wednesday. There is no love lost between Knicks fans and Trae Young, particularly stemming from the two teams meeting up in the opening round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
Semifinals and Finals Take Place in Las Vegas
While the quarterfinals see the higher seed as the home team, that won’t be the case in the semifinals and finals. Those three contests will subsequently take place in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After the quarterfinals, the two semifinals games will take place on Saturday, December 14. The first of the two will be at 4:30 PM ET and air on TNT. The second contest is at 8:30 PM ET and will broadcast on ABC.
Who will be the second-ever winner of the NBA Cup? We will all find out on Tuesday, December 17 when the finals are scheduled to occur. The winners of the two semifinals games will see who can be crowned NBA Cup champions. The game will begin at 8:30 PM ET on ABC.
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