NBA Cup: Raptors advance, Nuggets top Rockets

(AFP) With a full house of three wins, the Toronto Raptors clinched the first ticket to the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup on Friday, while the Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz were eliminated.

Toronto advances, Minnesota eliminated

The Raptors, a team that has not played in the playoffs since 2022, gave their fans some much needed joy by qualifying with an emphatic 140-110 win over the Washington Wizards.

The Canadian franchise thus capitalizes on its great form, with 10 wins in its last 11 games.

Three of those wins counted toward the group stage of the NBA Cup, which guaranteed them the first ticket to the quarterfinals, to be played between Dec. 9 and 10.

The Raptors lead Eastern Conference Group A with their unblemished 3-0 record.

Forwards Brandon Ingram and R.J. Barrett led the Canadian offense against Washington, both with 24 points.

In the regular season, Toronto has a 11-5 record and holds a surprising second place in the East, 2.5 wins behind the leader Detroit Pistons, while the Wizards are the worst team of the season at 1-14.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were the other team that could qualify early Friday, but their ticket slipped through their fingers in a 114-113 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves, who had an eight-point lead with 50 seconds left, with 41 points.

Minnesota, which qualified with a win, watched the Suns devour that lead with a winning shot by rookie Collin Gillespie with six seconds left.

Pacers, Pelicans and Jazz out

The Indiana Pacers, the reigning runners-up, were eliminated from contention. Their exit was sealed by a combination of the Toronto Raptors' victory and the Pacers' own 120-109 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Just five months after facing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals, the Indiana Pacers are now mired in second-to-last place in the Eastern Conference with a 2-14 record, hampered by a serious injury to their leader, Tyrese Haliburton.

The New Orleans Pelicans, one of the most disappointing franchises of the season, also missed out on the playoffs.

This time their executioner was the Dallas Mavericks by a tight 118-115, in a thrilling duel between two rookies who were high school teammates at Montverde Academy.

Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 pick in the last draft, scored a career-high 29 points for the Mavericks, while Derik Queen also had his best night in the NBA with 20 points and 11 assists for the Pelicans.

The Utah Jazz also said goodbye to the Cup by falling to the Thunder 144-112.

The defending champions struggled to get into the game and allowed Utah to take an 18-point lead before turning the score around with an overwhelming comeback led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 31 points.

Nuggets take Houston

The day also left an exciting battle between two strong contenders in the West, the Denver Nuggets and the Houston Rockets.

The Nuggets prevailed 112-109 on the road thanks to Nikola Jokic, who was one assist away from another triple-double.

The Serbian center racked up 34 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists on a night when teammate Aaron Gordon left the court with a muscle injury in the first quarter.

For the home side, the leading scorer was reserve guard Reed Sheppard with 27 points, 20 of them in a first half in which he fueled a 13-point Rockets comeback.

Kevin Durant, on the other hand, had a quiet night with 13 points.

Denver, with a 12-3 record, retained its second place in the West, where it is trailed only by the Thunder, while the Rockets were overtaken by the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs.