By The NBA Cup semifinals are set after the Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets were victorious in their respective quarterfinal games on Wednesday.
Atlanta knocked the New York Knicks out of the in-season tournament 108-100 at Madison Square Garden (MSG) in New York.
Down seven at the half, the Hawks outscored the Knicks 61-46 in the second half as the Knicks struggled offensively.
Hawks guard Trae Young had another impressive game at MSG, finishing with 22 points, 11 assists and five rebounds. Atlanta was down 66-62 in the third quarter when Young scored eight straight points, including two consecutive threes. The Hawks never trailed after that.
“We knew what the stakes were coming into this game and we also knew the odds coming into this game too,” Young said after the win. “We just tried to play for each other and play to the end and that’s what we did.”
The three-time All-Star was one of three Atlanta players who dropped at least 20 points. Forward De’Andre Hunter came off the bench to score a game-high 24 and forward Jalen Johnson had 21 points, 15 boards and seven assists.
The Hawks defeated the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics and the NBA-best Cleveland Cavaliers in group play to reach the knockout stage.
Knicks guard Josh Hart had 21 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists and center Karl-Anthony Towns added 19 points and 19 boards in the losing effort.
Meanwhile, the Rockets stunned the Warriors 91-90 at the Toyota Center in Houston after a wild finish.
The Rockets blasted off into a hot start, going up by as much as 14 points about halfway through the second quarter.
However, the Warrior slowly but surely inched closer and closer, cutting the lead to seven at halftime.
Both squads continued to trade baskets until late in the third quarter.
With the score knotted up at 63-63, Warriors guard Buddy Hield knocked down a three to give Golden State its first lead since the opening quarter. A little over a minute later, he would make another one to extend the lead.
Golden State, who have won four NBA title in the last decade, continued to make buckets to keep the young, electric Houston offense at bay – for the most part.
The Rockets kept threatening, making it a one point game with just under 30 seconds left.
Craziness ensued after a foul call on Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga was called for a foul with three seconds left.
Houston guard Jalen Green made both free throws to secure the win for the Western Conference’s third best team this year as the Rockets ended the game on a 7-0 run.
Rockets center Alperen Sengun finished with a game-high 26 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
After the game, the 22-year-old Sengun said he’s never seen the team “this thirsty.”
“We knew it was going to be hard,” Sengun said. “We play aggressive, they play aggressive but I am proud of my team, teammates, everyone. We work hard.”
Sengun, a former first round pick of the Rockets out of Turkey, set the aspirations ahead of their trip to Sin City.
“We are going for a title,” Sengun said on the TNT broadcast. “Next game we are going to fight again. … It’s going to be a big battle on Saturday.”
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr let his feelings known, conveying his displeasure with the late foul call that cost them the game.
“A loose ball situation, 80 feet from the basket, with the game on the line,” Kerr told reporters after the game. “I’ve never seen that. Think I saw it in college one time, 30 years ago. Never seen it in the NBA. That is unconscionable. I don’t even understand what just happened.
“This is a billion dollar industry. You’ve got people’s jobs on the line. … Our guys battled back. Played our a**es off and deserved to win that game or at least have a chance for one stop at the end to finish the game and that was taken from us by a call that I don’t think an elementary school referee would have made, because that guy would have had feel and said ‘You know what, I’m not going to decide a game on a loose ball 80 feet from the basket.”
The 59-year-old Kerr added he was “pissed off” that his team wasn’t heading to Vegas to play for the Cup.
“I wanted to go to Las Vegas,” Kerr continued. “We wanted to win this Cup. We aren’t going because of a loose-ball foul 80 feet from the basket with the game on the line. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. That was ridiculous.”
In the other quarterfinals contests on Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks topped the Orlando Magic 114-109 while the Thunder downed the Dallas Mavericks 118-104.
The prize money for reaching the quarterfinals is $50,000 per player and grows to $100,000 apiece for making the semis.
The Hawks will face the Bucks and the Rockets will take on the Thunder in the semifinals at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday. This final is Tuesday at the same venue.
