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Lakers guard Austin Reaves drives to the ring as Clippers middle Ivica Zubac defends within the second half at Crypto.com Area.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Instances)
The Lakers locked up their spot within the NBA Cup quarterfinals, however there are nonetheless significant Cup video games to be performed.
With a 3-0 document in West Group B, the Lakers can clinch home-court benefit within the quarterfinals with a win Friday in opposition to the Dallas Mavericks within the group stage finale. A win can be the only strategy to keep away from resorting to the purpose differential tiebreaker that would nonetheless be in play to determine the No. 1 seed within the West. Outscoring opponents by 36 factors, the Lakers’ level differential is 27 factors behind West Group A leaders Oklahoma Metropolis (2-0 in group play) for the potential No. 1 seed. The highest-seeded workforce will host the wild-card workforce, which earns its spot within the quarterfinal by advantage of being the most effective second-place workforce in group play. Portland and Denver are tied atop West Group C with 2-1 information.
The three-year-old NBA Cup, impressed by comparable in-season tournaments in European leagues, has sparked confusion concerning the colourful courts and ever-changing group stage situations. The potential further street journey and further championship sport might find yourself placing extra put on on groups which have bigger playoff ambitions, however the prize makes it definitely worth the hassle: $500,000 for every participant.
“Clearly I’ll settle for cash,” Doncic stated with a sarcastic smile. “That’s straightforward. … I performed it in Spain, one thing like this, so I prefer it. Simply the courts, please.”
Doncic stated the Lakers’ NBA Cup court docket — brilliant yellow with the gold and black trophy painted into the important thing — brought on issues for a couple of gamers as they slipped on the brand new hardwood. An space close to the free-throw line in entrance of the Clippers bench seemed to be particularly slippery. Doncic stated he might inform instantly throughout warm-ups that the floor might be an issue.
“I slipped a whole lot of instances and you could possibly see a whole lot of gamers slipped,” Doncic stated. “And that’s harmful, man.”
Redick stated he observed gamers slipping, but in addition that they have been falling previous to that. He stated the workforce will look into the court docket.
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