With a final Group B record of 2-2, the Boston Celtics have officially been eliminated from the Emirates NBA Cup. Only the top four teams from each conference qualify: the leader from each of the three
groups, along with one wildcard team that is determined by the best remaining group play record. If multiple teams are tied for the wildcard spot, head-to-head record in Group Play and point differential are used as the first two tiebreakers.
Despite beating the Detroit Pistons in their final game of Group Play, Boston’s 2-2 record in Cup games wasn’t enough to earn the wildcard spot. Both the New York Knicks and Miami Heat won tonight, putting the nail in the coffin for the Celtics Cup hopes.
Disappointingly, this will be the second-straight year that Boston failed to qualify for the knockout rounds. In the first year of the Cup’s existence, back when it was just called the In-Season Tournament, the Celtics led their group to qualify for the knockout rounds but were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the first game with Indiana going on to lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in the finale.
This year, Boston’s group had the Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic, and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Magic currently sit atop the group with a record of 3-0, and have a whopping +61 point differential thanks to a blowout against the Sixers. Detroit, currently sitting at second in the group, has a point differential of 24. The two teams face off against each other in their final game of the Group Play on Friday, the winner earning a guaranteed spot in the next round. If Orlando loses, their point differential gives them a pretty good chance to qualify for the East’s wildcard spot, though.
Boston beat the Magic in two out of their three matchups so far this season, but unfortunately for them, the one loss came in their Cup game, Orlando taking it by 13 points on a late fourth-quarter push. As for Detroit, today’s Cup game was their second matchup with Boston this year. The Pistons came into the game with a 13-game win-streak and a 15-2 record, and another win would have set their franchise best win-streak. They sit atop the Eastern Conference, but the Celtics dug deep to knock them off and tie the season series at 1-1, Detroit having won the previous matchup between the two.
Taking a look at the rest of the group, Brooklyn, who has a regular season record of 3-13, currently has a Group Play record of 1-2 in the Cup, their sole win coming against the Celtics. Boston’s only other win was against the Sixers, who currently sit at the bottom of the group with a record of 0-3 despite having a regular season record of 9-8, and having edged out the Celtics in both of their other matchups so far this season.
Even with Boston’s Cup hopes being squashed, they won’t just be sitting at home doing nothing while the Knockout Rounds take place. The NBA will schedule two regular season games for each of the teams who didn’t qualify, those games counting towards the usual 82-game total, not additional games. The games will be played within the conference between teams who would otherwise only face each other three times this season – that is except for the bottom two teams in each conference, who will each have one cross-conference game.
With Boston’s 2-2 record, they don’t have to worry about getting a cross-conference game, saving themselves from some potential extra travel miles. The schedule for their two replacement games will be announced shortly after Group Play concludes, the final games being played on Friday, November 28th.
