CNN
—

The New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks emphatically secured their place in the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup on Tuesday after topping their respective groups undefeated, while the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics were eliminated.

The Knicks defeated the Orlando Magic 121-106 at Madison Square Garden, behind a 23-point, 15-rebound performance from Karl-Anthony Towns and a triple-double from Josh Hart, who finished the game with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists completed.

Despite the loss, the Magic also secured their place in the quarterfinals after securing the Eastern Conference wild card, awarded to the second-place team with the best record at the end of the group stage, ahead of the Celtics by points differential.

The Knicks’ 4-0 record gave them home advantage in the quarterfinals, where they will face the Atlanta Hawks, who led their group with a 3-1 record, on November 11th.

Orlando, meanwhile, will face the Milwaukee Bucks, who beat the Detroit Pistons 128-107 on Tuesday and also finished the group stage 4-0.

The Bucks were led by Giannis Antetokounmpo with 28 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, while Damian Lillard contributed 27 points, four rebounds and five assists.

“You have a tournament in front of us and we want to win it,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said, according to ESPN. “We said that early on and we’re 4-0. But we still have a lot of work to do.”

The Bucks continue to impressively turn their season around after a difficult start, winning nine of their last 10 games to move into fifth place in the Eastern Conference regular season standings.

In the Western Conference quarterfinals, the Oklahoma City Thunder host the Dallas Mavericks, while the Golden State Warriors face the Houston Rockets.

Luka Doncic passed Ja Morant as the Mavericks defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 121-116 on Tuesday. The Slovenian scored 37 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals, helping the Mavs secure a spot in the West Wildcard.

Meanwhile, OKC beat the Utah Jazz 133-106 behind 28 points from Jalen Williams and 26 points from Shai-Gilgeous Alexander.

The tournament’s second season is guaranteed to see a new NBA Cup winner after the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated in group play.

Organizers will have been rubbing their hands ahead of the final round of group games, with five of the eight quarter-final places still undecided by Tuesday evening.

The tournament was introduced in part to incentivize fans to become more interested in the NBA’s marathon 82-game season in November and December, and to attract casual viewers who might not watch until after Christmas become. or even the playoffs.

The winners of the quarterfinals travel to Las Vegas to play the semifinals on December 14th. The finale will take place on December 17th in Sin City. All knockout games are single elimination games.

However, not everyone is a fan, with Thunder star Gilgeous-Alexander calling the tournament “all too confusing.”

“I’ll just win and then we’ll see where we end up,” he said.

Away at home

Tuesday, December 10th – Orlando Magic @ Milwaukee Bucks, 7:00 p.m. ET

Tuesday, December 10th – Dallas Mavericks @ Oklahoma City Thunder, 9:30 p.m. ET

Wednesday December 11th – Atlanta Hawks @ New York Knicks, 7 p.m. ET

Wednesday December 11th – Golden State Warriors @ Houston Rockets, 9:30 p.m. ET

Away at home (winners in bold)

Milwaukee Bucks 128-107 Detroit pistons

Washington Wizards 87-118 Cleveland Cavaliers

Philadelphia 76ers 110-104 Charlotte Hornets

Indiana Pacers 111-122 Toronto Raptors

Orlando Magic 106-121 New York Knicks

Utah Jazz 106-133 Oklahoma City Thunder

Memphis Grizzlies 116-121 Dallas Mavericks

San Antonio Spurs 93-104 Phoenix Suns

Houston Rockets 111-120 Sacramento Kings

Golden State Warriors 115-119 Denver Nuggets

Portland Trail Blazers 105-127 Los Angeles Clippers