The first half of the NBA Cup’s quarterfinal matchups are now in the books, and both the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks are headed to Las Vegas.
Both the Magic and the Knicks won their respective games on Tuesday night, and will now square off in the semifinals in Las Vegas later this week.
That leads to a substantial raise, too. Each full-time player on the Magic and Knicks rosters earned a $106,187 paycheck via a pay scale that escalates with each subsequent round of the NBA Cup. The championship-winning players will earn $530,933, a nice payday by any account and a substantial raise for anyone playing on the league minimum $1.366 million salary.
Desmond Bane continues to ascend from slow start with Magic
The Miami Heat seized early control Tuesday night with a 15-0 lead over the Magic in their quarterfinal matchup to tip off the NBA Cup action.
But as tends to be the case with double-digit leads in the NBA, the advantage was not safe. Sparked by Desmond Bane, the Magic rallied to take their first lead of the game at 47-46 before halftime. By the fourth quarter, they were in full control of a 117-108 victory.
After scoring two first-quarter points, Bane finished with 37 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. The former Memphis sharpshooter had his best shooting night since joining the Magic this season while shooting 14 of 24 from the floor and 6 of 9 from 3.
Bane sparked Orlando’s second-quarter rally with 10 points as the Magic outscored the Heat 39-27 in the stanza. And he helped keep the Heat at bay after halftime with four 3-pointers on five attempts.
Following a rocky start to his Magic career, Tuesday’s performance marked Bane’s third 37-point effort in his past six games.
The Magic have needed the production from Bane amid injuries to their veteran stars. All-Star Paolo Banchero previously missed 10 games with a groin strain. He was back for a third straight game Tuesday night with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. But star forward Franz Wagner missed the first game of what’s projected as a multiweek absence with a high-ankle sprain.
Despite the injuries, the Magic are off to a 15-10 start that was good for fourth place in the East at the conclusion of Tuesday’s game and are now in position to win the NBA Cup. They’ll need continued strong play from Bane to maintain their pace.
Jalen Brunson, Knicks roll to win
The second game of the night wasn’t anywhere near as close as the first. The Toronto Raptors struggled to put up much of a fight.
The Knicks rolled to a dominant 117-101 win over the Raptors to secure their spot in the semifinals. They’ve now made it to the semifinal round of the NBA Cup for the first time after falling short in the quarterfinals in the first two years of its existence.
Though the Raptors came out of the gate fine, they shut down in the second quarter on Tuesday night. The Knicks surged ahead to a 17-point lead at the break of their contest at Scotiabank Arena after they held Toronto to just 13 points as a group in the second quarter. A Jamal Shead 3-pointer in the final minute before halftime was the only shot in the period that the Raptors made from outside of the restricted area. Toronto had almost nothing going.
Jalen Brunson, on the other hand, was just about perfect offensively. He dropped 26 points in the first half alone and shot 10-of-12 from the field.
That was just a hole that the Raptors never recovered from. The Knicks maintained a 15-point lead entering the final period, and then cruised to the 16-point win. Brunson finished with 35 points with six 3-pointers. Josh Hart added 21 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds. The Knicks have now won eight of their last nine, and hold a 17-7 record.
Brandon Ingram led the Raptors with 31 points and seven assists. Shead had 18 points, and Scottie Barnes dropped 13 points points. The loss, their fourth straight, moved the Raptors to 15-11 on the season.
Though the Knicks have been great on their home floor — they hold a 13-1 record at Madison Square Garden this season — Tuesday night was probably the best they’ve played on the road so far this year. If they can transition that out west in the coming days, they’ll be a tough to beat.
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