Tonight there was a lot of movement in the table of the Emirates NBA Cup, which is slowly but surely entering the hot phase before the knockout round. As a result, the Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards are out of contention for the knockout round spots. The Houston Rockets, in turn, won their group with a 113:109 victory over Minnesota.
After last night’s games, the die has finally been cast for some teams in the NBA Cup. The most important information first: The Houston Rockets were able to secure group victory in West Group A thanks to a 113:109 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
This means that in the West there are already two teams that have the best chances of making it to the knockout round, while in the East everything is still largely open. The Golden State Warriors (West Group C) secured group victory last weekend.
Raptors, Jazz and Wizards are out
However, the race for the cup has already been over for a total of three teams since last night: Based on the results of their previous games, the Toronto Raptors (East Group B) could only hope for the Milwaukee Bucks to lose against Miami. Since they beat their opponents from Florida 106:103, the Canadians are automatically out. Damian Lillard, who scored a whopping 37 points for the Heat, was probably the biggest offender for the Raptors.
It’s also over for the Jazz and the Wizards: Utah is eliminated after a 128:115 defeat against San Antonio. Washington is out of contention after a 127-108 loss to Chicago.
Recap: How does the NBA Cup work?
Just to repeat: Beim NBA-Cup There are two phases, the group games and the knockout round. For the group games, the 30 teams in the league were randomly divided into groups of five within the respective conferences. Within these groups they each play four games (two at home, two away).
Only eight teams advance to the subsequent knockout round – the best six from the group games and two wild cards. In this phase, which is scheduled to start at the beginning of December, there will only ever be one elimination game.
Photo: AFP
