The final trips to Las Vegas were booked in the 2025 NBA Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.
The Orlando Magic and New York Knicks clinched their spots in the semifinals on Tuesday, leaving two left for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs to fight it out on the second day of action.
Let’s just say the first game went the Thunder’s way. And the second, even though there was a wild throwback moment from LeBron James, was a fairly easy one for the Spurs. Now, the two teams will meet in the West semifinals.
Reaching Vegas already means a significant raise for some players. Each full-time player on a semifinal roster earns a $106,187 paycheck, which escalates with each subsequent round of the NBA Cup. The championship-winning players will earn $530,933, a nice payday for anyone playing on or near the league minimum $1.366 million salary.
Spurs overcome LeBron James poster
Even without Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs rolled to an easy win Wednesday night.
The Spurs picked up a 132-119 victory over the Lakers in Southern California to wrap up the quarterfinal round. They led nearly the entire way, and held on late to secure their fourth win in a five-game span.
Though the Spurs built up an 18-point lead in the second quarter — thanks to a big 19-6 run to end the first period and then a defensive stretch in which they forced the Lakers to shoot just 4-of-15 to open the second period — the Lakers rallied and cut that deficit to 12 points at halftime. Their entire run, though it could have been better, was completely overshadowed by a vintage showing from LeBron James.
In the final minute of the second quarter, the soon-to-be 41-year-old drove to the rim and threw down a wild one-handed dunk over Luke Kornet.
James’ reaction to the dunk may have been the best part. Before sprinting down and getting a block at the other end, James erupted in Kornet’s face.
But that was about it. The Spurs then opened the second half on a 15-5 tear to take a 22-point lead, and the rest was history. They held on in the fourth quarter late and survived one last Lakers push to pick up the 13-point win.
Luka Dončić led the Lakers with 35 points and eight assists. James finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists, and Marcus Smart dropped 26 points off the bench.
Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 30 points and 10 rebounds, and hit a clutch step-back 3-pointer in the final two minutes to seal the win. De’Aaron Fox finished with 20 points, and Keldon Johnson added 17 points.
Though beating the Thunder will be no easy task — they proved that again earlier Wednesday — the Spurs also picked up a dominant win. If Wembanyama is back, the Thunder’s run may be (at last momentarily) at risk of disruption.
Thunder show no mercy to short-handed Suns
The Oklahoma City Thunder were 23-1. The Phoenix Suns were missing Devin Booker. What did you expect?
OKC took its first lead 53 seconds into the game and its first double-digit lead four minutes into the game. Less than a minute into the second quarter, it led by 20. Less than a minute into the third quarter, it led by 30. Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was taking his usual blowout rest.
And then the Thunder bench started working Phoenix over.
The lone drama after the first quarter was Grayson Allen getting ejected for going old-school Grayson Allen on Chet Holmgren. Beyond that, it was a barbaric show of force at the Paycom Center, with the NBA’s current all-time leader in scoring margin posting the largest margin of victory of any NBA game this season.
The record is now 24-1, with 16 straight wins. They are the second team in NBA history to begin a season 24-1 or better, joining the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors.
Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting plus 8 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Chet Holmgren also had 28 points on 13 shots, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 assists.
It’s hard to imagine Booker’s presence swinging the result, not when the Thunder were executing at as high a level as we’ve seen all season. The Suns star was ruled out with a groin strain ahead of the game. He hasn’t played since the Suns’ win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 1 and has now missed three games.
Read the full article here