The quarterfinals of the NBA Cup were defined

The NBA Cup The group stage of its second edition closed this Tuesday and will have the following Crossings in the quarterfinals: Oklahoma City Thunder-Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets-Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks-Orlando Magic and New York Knicks-Atlanta Hawks.

The Warriors, Thunder and Rockets became champions of their groups in the West, while the Mavericks were left with the wild card of that conference.

In the East, the Bucks, Knicks and Hawks finished first in their groups and the Magic took the wild card.

Dallas celebrated an epic comeback and qualified for the quarterfinals with the West’s wild card after defeating the Grizzlies who led by 8 points with 3.34 left but suffered an 18-5 run to close the match.

With two decisive triples from Spencer Dinwiddie and one from PJ Washington in the final stretch, the Mavericks (14-8) also added their fifth straight win. Luka Doncic led Dallas with 37 points (11 of 22 from the field) and 12 rebounds.

Ja Morant (31 points) was the best of the Grizzlies (14-8) who saw their streak of six consecutive wins ended and in which the Spanish Santi Aldama stood out with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.

The Warriors (12-8) have lost five in a row, succumbing to a monumental Nikola Jokic, who dazzled with 38 points (14 of 24 on field goals), 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals.

The Nuggets (11-8) won their last eight games against Golden State and turned the game around with a masterful comeback after trailing by 11 points with 6:13 left and thanks to a 10-0 run in the last two minutes and 32 seconds.

Stephen Curry (24 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists) could not avoid the final disaster of the Warriors who, despite their unfortunate outcome, went to the quarterfinals as champions of Group C of the West.

The Thunder (16-5) did their homework, overwhelming a poor Jazz with five straight losses (4-17) to become champion of Group B of the West. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (26 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists) and Jalen Williams (28 points) led Oklahoma City without having to play in the fourth quarter.

Walker Kessler (17 points and 11 rebounds) stood out in Utah.

The Knicks qualified as first in Group A of the East after crushing a Magic that lost by 37 points in the third quarter, a result that if it had been maintained at the end would have given the ‘wild card’ of that conference to Boston Celtics.

With a powerful 8-2 in their last ten games (13-8 balance), the Knicks offered a show led by the Dominican Karl-Anthony Towns (23 points and 15 rebounds), Jalen Brunson (21 points) and Josh Hart (triple-double with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists).

In Orlando (15-8), which lost after six straight wins, Franz Wagner had 30 points and 6 assists and his brother Moritz Wagner had 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Seven consecutive victories and fourth place as champions of Group B and as the best team in the East. That’s how shocking was the reaction of the Bucks (11-9), who after a disastrous start to the season recovered with an impressive 9-1 in their last ten games.

Giannis Antetokounmpo excelled against the Pistons with 28 points (a huge 10 of 11 from the field, 8 of 12 from the free throw), 7 rebounds and 8 assists in 28 minutes without having to step on the court in the final quarter. Damian Lillard backed him up with 27 points (5 of 11 on triples) and 5 assists as the Bucks went 15 of 21 on triples at halftime (23 of 41 at the end).

The top scorer for the Pistons (9-14) was Cade Cunningham with 23 points, in addition to 5 rebounds and 6 assists.

In the rest of the games, the Cleveland Cavaliers crushed a Washington Wizards in ruins with 15 straight losses (118-87), the Phoenix Suns beat the San Antonio Spurs (104-93), but both were left out of the quarterfinals, and Philadelphia The 76ers chained two consecutive victories for the first time this season with their success over the Charlotte Hornets (104-110).

In addition, the Toronto Raptors defeated the Indiana Pacers (122-111), the Sacramento Kings defeated the Houston Rockets (120-111) and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers (127-105).