LOS ANGELES: The New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks advanced to the knockout phase of the NBA Cup with emphatic victories on Tuesday (Dec 3), the Knicks hammering Orlando 121-106 in a blowout that still allowed the Magic to grab a quarter-final berth.
At Madison Square Garden, the Knicks dominated in the battle to finish unbeaten and win the East Group A, overpowering a Magic team that came in with the third-rated defence in the league.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, Jalen Brunson added 21 points, Mikal Bridges scored 19 and OG Anunoby and Miles McBride scored 18 apiece for the Knicks while Josh Hart contributed a triple-double of 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
Franz Wagner scored 30 to lead Orlando, who were assured of advancing so long as they didn’t lose by 37 points or more.
The Magic, who gave up 32 points on 16 turnovers, saw their deficit hit that number in the third quarter but clawed back to grab the East wild card berth on points differential over the NBA champion Boston Celtics, who also finished group play 3-1.
The Magic jumped to a quick eight-point lead but the Knicks, needing a victory to advance, put together an 11-0 scoring run to grab a 17-14 advantage on the way to a 36-27 lead after one quarter and never trailed again.
In Detroit, the Bucks drained 23 three-pointers on the way to a 128-107 victory over the Pistons in a battle of East East Group B leaders that saw the hosts eliminated.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points with seven rebounds and eight assists and Damian Lillard scored 27 points for the Bucks, who have won seven straight games – including a victory over Detroit in which Antetokounmpo dropped a season-high 59 points.
Antetokounmpo made 10 of 11 shots from the floor and sat out the entire fourth quarter.
Lillard drilled five three-pointers and played only the first few minutes of the fourth.
Milwaukee had seized control early, connecting on 69.2 percent of their shots in the first half – including 15 of 21 from three-point range.
“I thought our ball movement was unbelievable,” Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said. “We just kept finding open guys, played unselfish basketball.”
The quarter-finals of the in-season tournament will be held next Tuesday and Wednesday with the semi-finals to be played on December 14 in Las Vegas – where the final will be held on Dec 17.
Group stage games count as regular-season games and the Cleveland Cavaliers, eliminated from the Cup, easily improved their league-leading record to 19-3 with a 118-87 victory over the Washington Wizards – who dropped their 15th straight.
Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points each for the Cavs, who had seven players score in double figures.
