For the Cup: Previewing Tonight's Semifinal Games

Maybe the Cup is better than I thought...

I have to admit, I am not a massive NBA Cup fan. I mean, it’s in the first quarter of the season, is only useful for prize money reasons, and, really, doesn’t mean anything more than any old regular season game — though I may have been wrong about that last part, at least from the players’ perspective.

The players seem to have loved the Cup this year and are genuinely playing harder in these games, given the score margin rule, so I think we can celebrate the increased effort.

Regardless, today I want to look at the two semifinal matchups, with the Knicks taking on the Magic and the Spurs taking on the Thunder. It’s pretty interesting that each of these teams, at one point, was considered a contender, despite the Magic and Spurs faltering just a little for injury reasons. The fact that neither of those teams is playing each other (unless they get to the Finals) makes this way more interesting, so I want to go through each matchup and talk about what I’m watching for.

Let’s start with the West, where the game could hinge on one particular Frenchman…