The 2024 NBA Cup wrapped up group stage play on Tuesday, with three groups and both Wild Card spots still up for grabs for next week’s quarterfinals.
In the East, the Hawks had already clinched, but the Knicks, Magic, Bucks, Pistons, and Celtics were all alive to advance. In the West, things were much more complicated with the Rockets and Warriors locked in as group winners, but a number of teams still mathematically alive as the final day of competition arrived.
In the early window, the Knicks thumped the Magic to win their group and the Bucks similarly blew out the Pistons. Despite it getting dicey for a bit as they trailed by 36 at one point, the Magic did not blow a 37-point lead in point differential to the Celtics and were able to still earn the Wild Card thanks to their dominance in the first three games of group play. That set the quarterfinal matchups as Magic-Bucks and Hawks-Knicks, with a trip to Vegas on the line.
In the nightcap, the Thunder took care of the Jazz early to ensure a 3-1 team would win the Wild Card in the West, eliminating teams like the Clippers, Grizzlies, and Nuggets from contention. Their 26-point win also pushed their point differential to +44, meaning the Mavs, who entered the night at +41, were no longer a lock for the Wild Card with any win.
Dallas nearly had their Cup hopes spoiled by Memphis, but a wild 18-5 closing run erased a big deficit and all-but locked up their spot with a 5-point win. The final outcome that would determine what teams advanced was the Suns beating the Spurs, which eliminated both teams as the Spurs fell to 2-2, while the Suns lost the tiebreaker to OKC for the group and couldn’t make up the point differential deficit on Dallas.
That meant the Warriors, Rockets, Thunder, and Mavs were headed to the quarterfinals, with Kings-Rockets and Warriors-Nuggets left to determine seeding (based on point differential) among the group stage winners. Both the Warriors and Rockets lost, meaning there was not an undefeated team in group play out West, which shifted the tiebreakers for seeding to point differential, giving OKC the top seed. That meant our matchups in the West quarters would be Mavs-Thunder and Warriors-Rockets.
The full NBA Cup quarterfinal slate will look like this:
Hawks at Knicks
Magic at Bucks
Mavs at Thunder
Warriors at Rockets
That, at least on paper, features some very intriguing matchups and should make for a fun two nights of games next week on Tuesday, Dec. 10 and Wednesday, Dec. 11.
