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Philippines, 15 Jan 2025 |
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NBA Cup KO Round-West Features Post Season Rivals, Upstart Teams By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Thu, 05 Dec 2024  The second NBA in-tournament competition now known as the Emirates NBA Cup will pit last season's semifinals rivals and two current upstart teams in the Western Conference KO quarterfinals set this December 11. Wildcard qualifier Dallas Mavericks will play Group B topnotcher OKC Thunder in Oklahoma for a semifinals spot in the West while former Group C top team Golden State Warriors compete against the surging Houston Rockets, Group A winner for the other semis spot. Dallas advanced despite a 3-1 card in the group play in Group C on the merit of its higher points differential. The Mavs are looking to reassert their superiority over OKC whom they defeated 4-2 in the last season's Western Conference semifinals best of seven series. Dallas advanced all the way to the NBA Finals where it lost to eventual champion Boston Celtics. Boston failed to win the wildcard slot in the Eastern Conference on account of lower points differential vis a vis the Orlando Magic. The Mavs who are on the midst of a comeback after a spate of close defeats in the regular season, are favored to frustrate OKC again with their stronger lineup boosted by the arrival of Klay Thompson completing a triangle of fire with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. A healthy 7-4 Dereck Lively III joining forces with Daniel Galford and PJ Williamson at the frontline is expected also to give headache to the Thunder big men. OKC will again rely on Shai Gilgeous Alexander and Lue Dorf for firepower and seven footer Chet Holmgren and Jaylin Williams for rim protection and steadiness at the slot. Meanwhile, Golden State and Houston figured in a race for the 10th and last play-in spot in the last NBA post season series in the West which eventually went to the Warriors. The Warriors are making do with the loss of Thompson with new addition Buddy Hield contributing in points production in support of Stephen Curry and the continuous improved plays of Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga to complement veteran Draymond Green. On the other hand, the Rockets are finally showing the fruits of their rebuilding program with at least six players consistently scoring in double figures namely veteran Fred Van Fleet and sophomores/juniors Jabari Smith, Jr, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Amen Thompson and Tari Eason. Seven foot Turkish center Alperen Sengun, aside from providing rim protection, contributes for point production from time to time. The second holding of the in-tournament competition is helping jumpstart the campaigns of usually laggard teams as can be seen in the surge of Houston which is currently second in the overall standing in the West behind OKC and the Orlando Magic which is running third in the East behind Cleveland and Boston. The inaugural NBA Cup Finals was contested by the Los Angeles Lakers and the Indiana Pacers and won by the Lakers. Both teams however were eliminated in the group plays in this year's edition. The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.  |
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