N.B.A Day 28
Los Angeles Lakers
Utah Jazz
Compared to the regularity of the league, the cup is the tournament of surprises. This premise is also fulfilled in the first stages of the NBA Cup, the new tournament that the most important basketball championship in the world invented to add some spice to the start of the season. The path to winning the NBA Cup begins with a league phase and there are already two qualifiers: the Los Angeles Lakers and the Indiana Pacers. None of them were seeded in their respective groups.
The Lakers have had a perfect tournament so far with four wins in four games. They beat the Phoenix Suns at home in the most complicated game, then proved impossible to beat against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Portland Trail Blazers and, this Friday, the Utah Jazz. The Lakers dominated the game from start to finish. In the first quarter, the team of LeBron James and Anthony Davis was already ahead 32-17 and at halftime it was 64-39. The second half was a breeze where they didn’t have to work hard to extend their lead. In the end, the Lakers won clearly (131-99) and are first in Group A of the Western Conference.
In Group A of the East, the Indiana Pacers delivered a blow of authority this Tuesday against the Atlanta Hawks, despite being in drag for most of the game. Led by Tyrese Haliburton, who had 37 points, 16 assists and 5 rebounds, the Pacers won 152-157 and have three wins in three games in Group A of the Eastern Conference. They still have to play the Detroit Pistons, the group’s weakest rival, but even if they lose they would retain first place. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who have already defeated the team from Indiana and will therefore beat them in the event of a draw, can only get three wins.
Those who can no longer even hope to qualify as second in the group are the Philadelphia 76ers, who lost to Cleveland 119-122 yesterday in a thrilling game that was decided in overtime. Darius Garland led his team to victory with 32 points and 8 assists against Joel Embiid’s team, which also scored 32 points but failed in the crucial moments. The Philadelphia team lost only 4 of the 14 games they played in the regular season, but two of them were precisely those that qualified for the group stage of the Cup tournament, so they have already been eliminated.
The favorites
The Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks remain the favorites in the other two groups in the Eastern Conference. Both have won their first two games, but the path seems clearer for those from Boston, who still have two theoretically comfortable duels in front of them (Orlando Magic and Chicago Bulls) to qualify first in Group C.
However, the Bucks will play first in the final game on Tuesday the 28th against the Miami Heat, who were their enforcers in the playoffs last season. A chance for revenge for Antetokounmpo’s team, which, even if it lost, would have a good chance of finishing as the best second place in the three groups in the East. They accumulate a difference of 36 points in their favor in two games, which they can increase this Friday against the weak, already eliminated Washington Wizards. But there’s also the possibility of a three-way tie in this group if the New York Knicks beat Miami on Friday and then Miami beats Milwaukee.
It’s not easy to make predictions in the Western Conference either. In Group B, the New Orleans Pelicans pulled off an upset by defeating Nikola Jokić’s Denver Nuggets, last season’s NBA champions. Now, Denver isn’t relying on finishing first. Even if they beat the Houston Rockets, the Pelicans would be ahead if they beat the Clippers, the current bottom team. The Clippers themselves and the Dallas Mavericks are not mathematically eliminated, but almost.
There is a lot to decide in Group C, but one thing is already clear. Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs lost all three games in the group stage and were eliminated. They are also the team with the worst points difference in the entire tournament. Wemby is averaging 18.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, impressive numbers for a rookie, but they don’t make him a game-winning player for now. He’s not very well accompanied for that either.
At the top of this Group C are the Sacramento Kings and the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have two wins in two games, but the Golden State Warriors still have a chance of winning with one win and one loss.
In both the East and the West, the first in the three groups are ranked and the best are ranked second. In the quarterfinals on December 4th and 5th, the best first-place team from each conference will face the best second-place team in a single home game. The other two group winners meet at the home of whoever achieved the best results in their group (if they won the same games, the point difference and the highest score will be decisive). The NBA Cup semifinals, one for each conference, will be played in Las Vegas on December 7, as will the final two days later.
regular season
The NBA has made arrangements so that the league games in the cup tournament at the beginning of the season also count as part of the regular phase of the championship. The Celtics currently have the best record with 11 wins and 3 defeats and live up to their role as favorites. In the top spots in the East they are accompanied by the Milwaukee Bucks and the Sixers (both with 10 wins and 4 losses), who also lived up to expectations. At the bottom are the Detroit Pistons (2 wins and 13 losses) and the Washington Wizards, which is no surprise.
Things are more mixed in the Western Conference. The unexpected leaders for now are the Minnesota Timberwolves (10 wins and 3 losses), followed by the champion Denver Nuggets and the surprising Oklahoma City Thunder (both with a record of 10-4). At the end there are the San Antonio Spurs. Wembanyama was only able to celebrate victory in 3 of his team’s 14 games.
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