NBA Cup Wrap: Atlanta Hawks Surprise New York Knicks; Houston Rockets Edge Golden State Warriors To Reach Semis

Trae Young had 22 points and 11 assists, leading the Hawks to a 108-100 victory in the NBA Cup quarterfinals. They will head to Las Vegas to play the Milwaukee Bucks

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Updated on: 12 December 2024 11:55 am

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Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks celebrates the win on the logo after the quarterfinal game of the Emirates NBA Cup against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on December 11, 2024 in New York City.

Trae Young had 22 points and 11 assists, De'Andre Hunter and Jalen Johnson outplayed the Knicks frontcourt and the Atlanta Hawks took their surprising NBA Cup run all the way to the semifinals in Las Vegas, beating New York 108-100 on Wednesday night. (More Sports News)

Hunter scored 24 points and Johnson had 21 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists for the Hawks, who were perhaps the surprise team of the tournament after knocking off the defending champion Celtics in Boston and NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers in group play to reach the knockout stage as the No. 3 seed in the East.

Next up is another East power, the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, on Saturday in a semifinal matchup.

Josh Hart scored 21 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 19 rebounds for the Knicks, who went 4-0 in group play and shot out to a 12-point lead Wednesday. But they shot 11 of 42 from 3-point range and were outscored 34-18 in the third quarter.

Star guard Jalen Brunson was limited to 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting and New York’s bench scored just 14 points.

Bobby Portis in action against the Orlando Magic - null

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The Knicks led 66-62 before Young scored eight straight points, pointing to the floor after a 31-footer for his second consecutive 3-pointer. Hunter then hit a 3 to cap an 11-0 surge during which Atlanta took its first lead of the game and went ahead 73-66.

Vibes are immaculate! pic.twitter.com/ZwToV1kcuP
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 12, 2024

Rockets edge Warriors to advance

Jalen Green made two free throws with 3.5 seconds left and the Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 91-90 to advance to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas.

Houston snapped a 15-game skid against the Warriors, winning for the first time in the series since Feb. 20, 2020. The Rockets will face Oklahoma City, which beat Dallas in the other West quarterfinal game on Tuesday night, in the semifinals on Saturday.

Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with 26 points and 11 rebounds and Jabari Smith Jr. added 15 points.

Houston led by 14 before falling behind late to set up the thrilling finish.

The Rockets trailed by six with about 1 1/2 minutes left before Fred VanVleet made a 3-pointer and Sengun added a layup with 27 seconds to go to cut the lead to one.

Stephen Curry missed a 3 with 11 seconds left and Gary Payton II grabbed the rebound, but Green intercepted his pass and was fouled by Jonathan Kuminga to set up the winning free throws.

The Warriors had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but Smith blocked Brandin Podziemski’s 3-point attempt.