{"id":339601,"date":"2025-12-10T14:42:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/339601\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T14:42:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:42:12","slug":"nba-cup-quarterfinals-live-updates-results-takeaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/339601\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Cup quarterfinals: Live updates, results, takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"

With two spots in the NBA Cup semifinals clinched on Tuesday, Western Conference teams in the quarterfinals are on the clock.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n

2 Related<\/p>\n

The defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> host the Phoenix Suns<\/a> in the first matchup before the San Antonio Spurs<\/a> visit the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City is on a historic run with a 23-1 record — tied for the second-best 24-game start in NBA history with the 1969-70 New York Knicks<\/a>, according to ESPN Research. The Thunder are also on a 15-game winning streak, tied for the longest win streak in franchise history. Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> leads Oklahoma City with 32.8 points per game, while center Chet Holmgren<\/a> is averaging career highs in points (18.6) and rebounds (8.1). The Thunder reached the NBA Cup final last season, where they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Phoenix narrowly lost to Oklahoma City 123-119<\/a> last month in an NBA Cup group game but enters the matchup losing three of its last four. The status of Suns star Devin Booker<\/a> — who leads the team with 25 points per game — is in question because of a groin injury sustained on Dec. 1<\/a>. Forward Dillon Brooks<\/a> is second in scoring with a career-high 22.3 points per game.<\/p>\n

The Lakers defeated the Spurs 118-116<\/a> in their most recent matchup on Nov. 5. They boast the highest-scoring starting backcourt in the NBA with Luka Doncic<\/a> averaging 35 a game and Austin Reaves<\/a> putting up a career-high 28.4. LeBron James<\/a> is averaging 16.1 points after missing the first 14 games of the season because of sciatica.<\/p>\n

San Antonio has had its own injury issues with star center Victor Wembanyama<\/a> sidelined since Nov. 14 with a calf injury<\/a> and guard Stephon Castle<\/a> missing 10 games because of a hip flexor strain<\/a>. Castle has returned to action, but Wembanyama remains out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who will punch their ticket to Las Vegas for the semifinals? Follow along below for live updates and highlights.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With two spots in the NBA Cup semifinals clinched on Tuesday, Western Conference teams in the quarterfinals are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-339601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}