{"id":88324,"date":"2025-11-26T09:23:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T13:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/sin-categoria\/lakers-to-nba-cup-quarterfinals-doncic-reaves-and-lebron-shine\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T09:23:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T13:23:28","slug":"lakers-to-nba-cup-quarterfinals-doncic-reaves-and-lebron-shine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/nba\/lakers-to-nba-cup-quarterfinals-doncic-reaves-and-lebron-shine\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers to NBA Cup Quarterfinals: Doncic, Reaves and LeBron Shine"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Emirates NBA Cup 2025: The Battle Continues<\/h2>\n\nThe third edition of the Emirates NBA Cup is underway, with the group stage matchups coming to an end this week and the knockout stage matchups beginning to take shape.\n\nLeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were the first to lift the tournament trophy in 2023, with James taking home the tournament MVP honors. Last season, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks displayed their NBA Cup banner over the eventual NBA champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.\n\nBut, which team will claim the grand prize in Las Vegas this year and be able to maintain that tournament momentum into the postseason?\n\nHere’s everything you need to know about the ongoing tournament, including this year’s rule changes, takeaways from the week’s most important games, the schedule, and the results.\n\nResults from November 25th:<\/b>\n\nWizards 132, Hawks 113\n\n76ers 136, Magic 124\n\nLakers 135, Clippers 118\n\n\n

The Lakers Secure Their Playoff Spot<\/h3>\n\n\nLos Angeles Lakers, inaugural champions of the NBA Cup, seek to repeat the feat. On Tuesday night, they secured their place in the tournament playoffs.\n\nFueled by a stellar performance from Luka Doncic (43 points, 9 rebounds, and 13 assists, including a 32-point explosion in the first half), along with 31 points from Austin Reaves and 25 points from LeBron James, the Lakers overcame the LA Clippers, becoming the first team in the Western Conference to secure a spot in the NBA Cup playoffs.\n\nThe game was close for the first three quarters, but the tension increased in the last quarter after a foul by Kris Dunn on Doncic, which led to an altercation between Dunn and the Lakers’ center, Jaxson Hayes, resulting in Dunn’s ejection.\n\nThe Lakers, with a 13-4 record, tied with the Denver Nuggets for the second-best record in the Western Conference. Securing a spot in the Cup playoffs means that if they win on Friday at home against the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers will be guaranteed a home game in the tournament quarterfinals, giving them an advantage to return to Las Vegas.\n\n\n

Surprises in the Eastern Conference<\/h3>\n\n\nIn the Eastern Conference, two resounding victories were experienced, including one of the most surprising results of the season.\n\nThe Washington Wizards, with a 1-15 record before Tuesday, surprised the Atlanta Hawks, winning 132-113 in a game they led by as much as 29 points, earning their first NBA Cup victory.\n\nOn the other hand, the Orlando Magic dominated the Philadelphia 76ers, winning 144-103 to advance to 3-0 in the East Group B, setting up a decisive game on Friday in Detroit against the Pistons, leaders of the East.\n\nWith this victory, the Magic have a scoring margin of +61, the highest of any team in the Eastern Conference and the second best in the NBA, only surpassed by the Oklahoma City Thunder (+63).\n\n\n

Overview of the Cup<\/h3>\n\n\nTeams qualified for the playoffs:<\/b>\n\n\n
  • East: Toronto Raptors (Group A Winner)<\/li>
  • West: Los Angeles Lakers (Group B Winner)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    What’s at stake on Wednesday<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Eastern Group A:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\nThe Raptors have already secured the group and play their last home game against the Indiana Pacers. With a point difference of +53, Toronto could be the main candidate to have the best point difference of any team in the East, and potentially the entire league, before the playoffs.\n\n\n

    Group B East:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\nRegardless of what happens in Wednesday’s Pistons-Celtics game in Boston, the winner of Friday’s game in Detroit between the Magic and the Pistons will be the winner of this group. A Pistons victory would also mean that only six teams would be in the fight for the last three spots: Orlando, Detroit, Cleveland, the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, and New York Knicks.\n\n\n

    Eastern C Group:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\nThe game between the Bucks and the Heat is crucial. A Bucks victory would eliminate the Heat and secure their group if the Knicks lose in Charlotte on Wednesday or if the Bucks win at Madison Square Garden on Friday.\n\n\n

    West Group A:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\nThe Thunder are practically assured as the best seed in the West with wins over the Timberwolves on Wednesday and the Suns on Friday.\n\n\n

    West Group B:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\nThe Lakers secured this group with their victory on Tuesday night. If Memphis defeats the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday and the Clippers on Friday, the Grizzlies will have the opportunity to obtain the wildcard.\n\n\n

    Group C of the West:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\nIf the Portland Trail Blazers beat the San Antonio Spurs at home on Wednesday, they will secure this group.\n\n\n

    Upcoming Matches<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    November 26:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\nDetroit Pistons at Boston Celtics, 5 p.m.\n\nNew York Knicks at Charlotte Hornets, 7 p.m.\n\nIndiana Pacers at Toronto Raptors, 7:30 p.m.\n\nMinnesota Timberwolves at Oklahoma City Thunder, 7:30 p.m.\n\nMilwaukee Bucks at Miami Heat, 7:30 p.m.\n\nMemphis Grizzlies at New Orleans Pelicans, 8 p.m.\n\nHouston Rockets at Golden State Warriors, 10 p.m.\n\nSan Antonio Spurs at Portland Trail Blazers, 10 p.m.\n\nPhoenix Suns at Sacramento Kings, 10 p.m.\n\n\n

    November 28:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\nCleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks, 7:30 p.m.\n\nChicago Bulls at Charlotte Hornets, 7:30 p.m.\n\nMilwaukee Bucks at New York Knicks, 7:30 p.m.\n\nOrlando Magic at Detroit Pistons, 7:30 p.m.\n\nPhiladelphia 76ers at Brooklyn Nets, 7:30 p.m.\n\nWashington Wizards at Indiana Pacers, 7:30 p.m.\n\nPhoenix Suns at Oklahoma City Thunder, 9:30 p.m.\n\nSacramento Kings at Utah Jazz, 9:30 p.m.\n\nSan Antonio Spurs at Denver Nuggets, 9:30 p.m.\n\nDallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers, 10 p.m.\n\nMemphis Grizzlies at LA Clippers, 10 p.m.\n\n\n

    Elimination Phase<\/h3>\n\n\nDecember 9th and 10th:<\/b> Quarter-finals\n\nDecember 13:<\/b> Semifinals\n\nDecember 16:<\/b> Final","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Emirates NBA Cup 2025: The Battle Continues The third edition of the Emirates NBA Cup is underway, with the group stage matchups coming to an end this week and the knockout stage matchups beginning to take shape. LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were the first to lift the tournament trophy in 2023, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":88325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4339,1168,5592,405],"class_list":{"0":"post-88324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-group-stage","9":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","10":"tag-nba-cup","11":"tag-playoff"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}