NBA Cup 2024 Final Eight set: Bucks, Thunder top seeds, while Magic, Mavericks wild cards

Last season’s NBA Champion and the defending NBA Cup champion — then called the In-Season Tournament — are both out.

After a dramatic final night of games — and plenty of fans trying to do the math to see if their team could qualify based on point differential — the fields are set for the Knockout Round of the 2024 NBA Cup.

Let’s break it all down.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1. Milwaukee Bucks
2. New York Knicks
3. Atlanta Hawks
4. Orlando Magic (Wild Card)

East NBA Cup quarterfinal games

Orlando at Milwaukee, Dec. 10, 7 pm ET (TNT)
Atlanta at New York, Dec. 11, 7 pm ET (ESPN)

Milwaukee advanced to the knockout round as the East Group B winners behind a comfortable 128-107 win in Detroit — a game that never felt in doubt.

Much the same was true in New York, where the Knicks raced out to an early lead on Orlando and cruised to a 121-106 Win to take Group A — but there was plenty of fourth quarter drama. New York led that game by as many as 37 points in the third quarter — if it had won by 37 or more Orlando would have been knocked out of the Wild Card spot, which would have gone to Boston. That had Orlando starters playing deeper into the fourth quarter of a blowout loss than would happen in a usual Tuesday night regular season game. Orlando made it close enough to survive, and Boston is out.

Atlanta had wrapped up Group C before the night even tipped off, but now it heads to New York City, where Trae Young has had some huge games and been public enemy No. 1.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

1. Oklahoma City Thunder
2. Houston Rockets
3. Golden State Warriors
4. Dallas Mavericks (Wild Card)

West NBA Cup quarterfinal games (Dec. 10 or 11):

Dallas at Oklahoma City, Dec. 10, 9:30 pm ET (TNT)
Golden State at Houston, Dec. 11, 9:30 pm ET (TNT)

Golden State and Houston were already through to the Knockout Round, the winners of West Groups A and C, but they both lost their final NBA Cup games on Tuesday — in a fashion that left both coaches fuming — and that opened the door for Oklahoma City to grab the No. 1 seed in the West.

As expected, the Thunder blew out the Jazz 133-106, giving them a 3-1 record with a +45 point differential. That combined with Phoenix beating San Antonio gave OKC the West Group B crown (the Thunder and previously beaten the Suns, giving them the head-to-head tiebreaker).

Houston or Golden State could have grabbed the top seed with a win. However, the Rockets lost to the Kings, with coach Ime Udoka and center Alperen Sengun both getting ejected after a non-call on a Sengun drive with 1:52 remaining (the Rockets were down a dozen and trying to mount a comeback). “Blatant missed calls right in front of you. You’re calling ticky-tack moving screens and little s*** like that, but you don’t want to call the obvious ones right in front of you,” Udoka said postgame, which will earn him a fine from the league.

The Warriors fell in Denver 119-115. Kerr left the court fuming because after a Moses Moody missed 3 with 7.1 seconds remaining, the Nuggets’ Christian Braun recovered the loose ball and then tried to call a timeout — but the Nuggets were out of timeouts. However, the referees didn’t grant the timeout, the Warriors players rushed in tied up Braun, and a jump ball was called. By that point there was just 1.9 seconds remaining and the game was all but over, however, that timeout call would have given the Warriors a chance.

Now the Warriors and Rockets will face each other.

Dallas was likely to advance as the wild card so long it won, but that took a 15-point fourth-quarter comeback against Memphis to make a reality.

The Mavericks are rewarded with a trip to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder.

NBA CUP FORMAT

The NBA Cup started with all 30 NBA teams drawn into six groups of five teams each (three East and three West). The teams played everyone in their group — games counting as regular season games and NBA Cup games — with winners of those three groups, plus the one wild card from each conference, now advancing to the Knockout round.

The four winners of games on Dec. 10 and 11 will head to Las Vegas for the semi-finals on Dec. 14, and then the NBA Cup championship game on Dec. 17.

The 22 teams that didn’t make the knockout round will play two games that week — one home, one away — to make sure they get the full 82 game regular season slate.