Milwaukee and Oklahoma City are the first two semi-finalists of the NBA Cup. The Bucks equaled last season’s result, beating an Orlando team decimated by injuries 114-109 at the Fiserv Forum. Giannis Antentokounmpo (37 points) and Damian Lillard (28 points including 9 in the last minute) put the stamp, dragging Milwaukee to the second consecutive semifinal: the next obstacle is the winner of the quarter between New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks. The Magic, even without the various Banchero, Isaac and Franz Wagner, played until the end with Jalen Suggs (32 points) missing the triple before the possible overtaking 12 seconds from the siren and then the potential equalizer at 9″1 from the end, with Lillard and Antentokounmpo thus closing the score from the line.
On the other side of the scoreboard, the Thunder fly to the semifinals – they will face one of Golden State and Houston in Las Vegas – beating Dallas 118-104 led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (39 points), Jalen Williams (18 points) and Isaiah Hartenstein (10 points and 13 rebounds). The work on defense was also decisive to limit Luka Doncic (the Slovenian finished with 16 points and 5/15 from the field), with Marshall and Thompson (19 points each) who were not enough for the Mavericks to counter OKC, especially in the third quarter ( 33-19 the partial). There were also too many turnovers, 19, converted by the Thunder into 36 points.
– Ipa Agency photo –
