The last day of the Emirates NBA Cup’s elimination round is finally done. It doesn’t mean that the in-season tournament is over, though. Remember, eight teams are still alive. How these teams perform should be intriguing to follow and we now have something to cheer about in the early parts of December.
Before we look forward, let us first review some of the disappointing team performances on that final day of eliminations.
Utah Jazz
With the Christmas season coming up, you know everyone is in a giving mood. Just ask the generous Jazz squad that gave a lot of steals away — 18 of them, to be exact. When the Oklahoma City Thunder got 18 steals out of the Jazz’s 29 turnovers, you know the Thunder were thinking about saying “thanks” after the game.
Thunder beat the Jazz 133-106 and go 3-1 in group play.
– Dub: 28 and 5 rebounds + 3 steals
– SGA: 26-6-7 + 3 steals
– Wallace: 12-4-3
– Joe: 19 and 4 assists (5-9 from 3)
– Wiggins: 14 and 3 stealsOKC forced 28 turnovers and had 18 steals.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) December 4, 2024
Indiana Pacers
When the Pacers lost their first three games, people probably thought that they were going to at least win one. Well, they lost one more and fell to 0-4 after going 4-0 in last year’s elimination round. In the end, the team lost all tournament games this year by a combined 60 points.
Washington Wizards
Just like the Pacers, the Wizards lost all four of their games. What is the difference? Well, their losses are going to stand out more because they extended their losing streak to 15 consecutive games. That is quite horrifying when you consider the fact that they just had a “winless” November.
Fun fact:
The Dodgers have won a game more recently than the Washington Wizards pic.twitter.com/hJDBkAfOyX
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) December 4, 2024
San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs played awful basketball, and you could say it was a team effort. Chris Paul went 1-for-9 from the field, Harrison Barnes went 1-for-8, and Zach Collins had zero field goals on seven attempts. Even Victor Wembanyama contributed by missing his first seven shots before playing better in the second half.
Fourth Quarter Collapse
How you end the game is more important than how you start the game. The Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies should know about this. These teams were up by 11 or more points in the last several minutes of the fourth quarter but somehow let the game slip away and lost.
Mavs erase a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Grizzlies, 121-116.
Mavs had 25 turnovers and 14 missed FTs on the night and still won. This team is special, man.
— Dalton Trigg (@dalton_trigg) December 4, 2024
Main Image Credit:
December 6, 2024, San Antonio, TX:
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle dribbles up the floor during the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas Friday, December 6, 2024.
(Photo by Reginald Thomas II/San Antonio Spurs)
