Sam Hauser’s stunning three-pointer increased the Boston Celtics’ margin of victory to nine in their win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday. It’s not often that teams get a last-second try when they’re up by six, but that’s the magic of #TheCup.

“First of all, it’s the point difference, so you want to maximize it as much as possible,” CS coach Joe Mazzulla said of the final basket. “But I like it because this tournament and the point difference sort of removes all the unwritten rules that you should follow or not follow, where in a normal situation you wouldn’t do that, but in this one you look at a need and you can come up with a plan to try to get better in this situation.”

The teams actually have to pay attention to how much they win or lose by, as tiebreakers rely on the points difference.

After beating the Bulls, the Cs still have life in the NBA Cup even if they didn’t win their group. If they have the best point differential among the “second-place teams” in the Eastern Conference, they will secure the final wild card spot in the quarterfinals.

Unfortunately, they will not be in control of their own fate. Boston’s fate now rests in the hands of the Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks and (our) Detroit Pistons.

The Wild Card Race currently looks like this:

1. Detroit (3-0, +28)
2. Boston (3-1, +23)
3. New York (3-0, +15)

Now, both Detroit and New York could emerge from the above scenario on Tuesday, during the final night of group play. The Bucks play the Pistons while the Knicks face the Magic. The winners of the remaining groups will be determined in both matches.

Here’s what needs to happen for the Celtics to advance in the NBA Cup:

First and foremost, the Celtics NEED the Knicks to lose.

Why?

Well, the Magic currently have the largest point differential in the NBA Cup at +60. To be precise, they would have to lose 38 points in New York to fall behind Boston.

This just doesn’t feel remotely realistic.

If Orlando beats New York, there’s no way for the Cs to fall back in the wild-card race – they can only move up.

For this to succeed, the Milwaukee/Detroit game must be decided by five or more points, depending on the winner.

If the Pistons win, it will have to be at least seven, as the Bucks have a +29 differential.

If the Bucks win, it will only have to be six due to the Pistons’ net total of +28.

If the loser of this game ends up tied with Boston, the points scored will be the deciding factor. To overtake the Celtics in this category, the Pistons would have to score 143 points or the Bucks would have to score 149 points.

While this all feels pretty complicated, the simple way to look at it is: “If the Magic beat the Knicks, then Boston has serious life.”