It’s a big weekend of basketball in Las Vegas, as the NBA Cup’s final four teams get ready for the semifinals on Saturday, December 14.
Following those two games at T-Mobile Arena, the championship game will be played on Tuesday, December 17, and we will have this year’s winner.
Atlanta Hawks vs Milwaukee Bucks (-3.5)
The Atlanta Hawks punched their ticket to Las Vegas with a 108-100 win over the New York Knicks. Jalen Johnson, DeAndre Hunter, and Trae Young were the trio of Hawks to score more than 20 points, and Atlanta used an offensive rebounding edge of 22-12 to help fuel the win.
They face the Milwaukee Bucks and stars Giannis Antekounmpo and Damian Lillard, whom they just beat on December 4. In that game, Johnson had 23 points, Hunter had 20, and Young had 17 points and seven assists. Milwaukee’s big two were great – 31 for Giannis and 25 for Lillard – but the Atlanta bench bested the Milwaukee bench, 50-31.
In that win, the Hawks also won the battle in the paint, 64-34.
The Bucks are coming off a quarterfinal win over the Orlando Magic, 114-109. The key to that victory was 11 made three-points and 27 team assists. Lillard had nine of those assists to go along with 28 points. Giannis led the way with 37 points – the eighth time he’s broken 30 points in MIlwaukee’s last nine games.
Milwaukee is the favorite by 3.5 points. Since losing to Atlanta, they have covered just once in the last four games. The Hawks have covered three of their last five games.
Milwaukee is paying +230 to finish as the champions of the NBA Cup. The Hawks are the longest shot left in the field at +600.
Houston Rockets vs Oklahoma City Thunder (-5)
When the NBA Cup began, the Oklahoma City Thunder were the second betting favorite to win the championship, only trailing the Boston Celtics. At the time, the Thunder were paying +550, and that is now down to +125.
OKC is the five-point favorite in the semifinals against the Houston Rockets, who controversially snuck past the Golden State Warriors in the quarterfinals, 91-90. In a last-second loose ball sequence, a turnover that could have been called a foul led to a foul that could have been a no-call, but instead had the Rockets shooting free throws for the win.
A livid Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called it, “A call I don’t think an elementary school referee would have made.”
He added, “I’m pissed off. I wanted to go to Las Vegas. We wanted to win this Cup.”
Houston is going to Vegas instead, as is Oklahoma City after they beat the Dallas Mavericks, 118-114. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 points and the Thunder led by as many as 20 points in the rematch of last season’s Western Conference semifinals. The really good perimeter defense of the Thunder held Luka Dončić to just 16 points.
OKC has covered the spread in four straight games. Houston has failed to cover in three of their last four. The Thunder are +125 win the Cup, while the Rockets are paying +400.
With over 25 years of experience as a distinguished sports writer for renowned platforms such as Fox Sports and ESPN, Kyle Garlett is a sports betting specialist who has been at the forefront of documenting the global surge in sports betting and online gaming. Based in Denver, Colorado, Kyle hosts an NFL betting YouTube show and podcast. Kyle also has two sports books published by HarperCollins.
Kyle graduated the Azusa Pacific University in 1996 with a B.A. Degree in Communication and Journalism.
