Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The New York Knicks, fueled by 37 points from Jalen Brunson, punched their ticket to the NBA Cup quarter-finals on Friday with a 118-109 victory over Milwaukee that knocked the defending in-season tournament champion Bucks out of the competition. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from a four-game injury absence to score 30 points with 15 rebounds and eight assists in 28 minutes, but the Bucks dropped their seventh straight.
Trailing by four to start the fourth quarter, the Bucks pulled within two points on an Antetokounmpo dunk with 5:19 remaining. But the Knicks pulled away thanks in large part to Brunson, who made nine out of 10 free-throws, including four of four in the final period. The Knicks finished atop their group, and their victory at Madison Square Garden also saw the Miami Heat, who were idle on Friday, advance as the Eastern Conference wild card to the quarter-finals to be played December 9 and 10.
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Six knockout round berths were on the line in Friday’s final 11 games of group play in the in-season tournament, in which all games except the final also count in the regular-season standings. The short-handed San Antonio Spurs advanced with a 139-136 come-from-behind victory over Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. With Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle sidelined by injury, Devin Vassell scored a season-high 35 points and Julian Champagnie added 25 points and 10 rebounds for San Antonio, who trailed by as many as 18 in the third quarter.
After a flurry of lead changes early in the fourth, Denver’s Jamal Murray tied it at 126-126 with 1:41 left. Vassell made back-to-back three-pointers, and the Spurs held on. Murray finished with 37 points and Nuggets star Nikola Jokic added 21 points, nine rebounds, and 10 assists, but Denver was eliminated from the Cup.
The Orlando Magic also advanced with a gritty 112-109 victory over the Pistons in Detroit. Two days after their 13-game winning streak was ended in Boston, the Pistons rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to twice take a one-point lead, but the Magic came through in the final minutes. Desmond Bane scored 37 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Franz Wagner added 21 points, and Anthony Black scored 16 off the bench for the Magic, who withstood a 39-point triple-double from Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, who added 13 rebounds and 11 assists. The Magic pulled down a trio of offensive rebounds in the final minute, and Jalen Suggs drilled a pair of free throws with 6.3 seconds left that sealed the win and saw Orlando advance with a perfect 4-0 record in group play.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning NBA champions and runner-up to the Bucks in last season’s NBA Cup, fended off a late Phoenix charge to beat the Suns 123-119 and finish top of their group. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter and handed out eight assists for the Thunder, who led by 15 early in the final period only for the Suns to twice cut the deficit to one. The Thunder were clinging to a two-shot lead with 4.7 seconds left when Gilgeous-Alexander converted a pair of free throws to close it out.
Jalen Williams, making his season debut after recovering from off-season wrist surgery, scored 11 points and handed out eight assists for the Thunder, who advance as winners of their group. The Suns secured the Western Conference wild card ahead of Memphis despite the Grizzlies’ 112-107 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Los Angeles Lakers, already assured of a quarter-final berth, completed a perfect group stage with a 129-119 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 38 points, and Luka Doncic added 35 points and 11 assists for Los Angeles. P.J. Washington led the Mavs with 22 points, while Anthony Davis scored 12 points with five rebounds and five assists in his first game against his former team since the Lakers sent him to Dallas in the shock trade that brought Doncic to Los Angeles last February. Davis was back after missing 14 games with a calf strain.
© 2024 AFP
