Associated Press

Like a year ago, Milwaukee and New York are back in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup. Atlanta and Orlando are also on the way there.

The first two quarterfinal meetings have been determined: Orlando travels to Milwaukee and Atlanta will visit New York on the Eastern Conference side next week when the knockout phase of the NBA Cup begins. The game between the Hawks and the Knicks will take place on December 11th, the Knicks announced.

Milwaukee (4-0) clinched its spot Tuesday by beating Detroit to win East Group B, while New York (4-0) beat Orlando (3-1) to win East Group A. map by winning a point difference tiebreaker against Boston. Atlanta (3-1) had previously completed East Group C, largely due to a one-point win over the Celtics on Nov. 12.

Oklahoma City’s victory over Utah ultimately gave the Thunder the West Group B title, and the Thunder joined Houston (West Group A) and Golden State (West Group C) as qualifiers; The Rockets and Warriors had prevailed before Tuesday night. And Dallas rallied from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Memphis and move closer to the West wild-card spot, which wouldn’t be officially decided until the end of a late game between Portland and Sacramento.

“I like this trophy,” Mavericks star Luka Doncic said.

The four quarterfinal winners will meet in the semifinals in Las Vegas on December 14th, with the title game taking place on December 17th.

“They gave us a tournament and we want to win it. And we said that early on,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “We’re 4-0 but we still have a lot of work to do, but the bottom line is we deserve the chance to play at home – I think.”

Even in the event’s second year, some are still not sure about all the rules. Yes, Doc, you will be home during the quarters.

All the Magic had to do to secure the wild card spot was not lose by more than 37 points to stay ahead of Boston in the point differential race. Late in the third quarter, New York found themselves trailing by – you guessed it – 37 points.

The Magic outscored the Knicks 40-18 the rest of the game, lost on the scoreboard by 15 points, but won in the wild card race against the Celtics.

“We deserved to get into the quarterfinals,” said Magic striker Franz Wagner. “Of course it wasn’t our best game today, but that’s why you play every minute in the other games. It feels strange to move on after a game like that, but that’s just part of it.”

Thanks to the point difference, the Magic came through. The Thunder beat Phoenix in a head-to-head tiebreaker to clinch the Group B West title – both lost 3-1 in group play, but the Suns lost to Oklahoma City.

“I don’t really know much about the Cup and how it works and stuff like that,” Thunder guard Cason Wallace said. “All I know is that I want to win.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA