Thunder defeat Mavericks 118-104 in NBA Cup quarterfinals

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks 118-104 on Tuesday night in an NBA Cup quarterfinal.

Jalen Williams scored 18 points and Isaiah Hartenstein added 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder, who will play Wednesday’s Golden State-Houston winner in a semifinal on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Oklahoma City’s largest lead was 20 points in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference semifinals series that Dallas won 4-2.

The Thunder and their collection of elite perimeter defenders held Luka Doncic to 16 points on 5-for-15 shooting. Lu Dort led the effort, with Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace among the primary helpers.

Naji Marshall and Klay Thompson each scored 19 points and Kyrie Irving added 17 for the Mavericks.

BUCKS 114, 109

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points, Damian Lillard had nine of his 28 in the final minute and Milwaukee returned to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas by beating Orlando.

Milwaukee reached the semifinals of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas last December and will be the only returning team in Year 2. They will play Saturday against the winner of Wednesday’s quarterfinal between the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks.

Jalen Suggs led a short-handed Orlando team with 32 points but missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with 12 seconds left. Lillard was fouled and sank two free throws with 9.1 seconds remaining and Suggs missed a potential tying 3.

Antetokounmpo then made both free throws with 5 seconds left and the Bucks held on.

The Associated Press