Celtics eliminated from NBA Cup as Magic fall to Knicks originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics have officially been eliminated from the 2024 NBA Cup.
Their hopes of advancing to the tournament’s knockout stage were dashed Tuesday night. To clinch the Eastern Conference wild card spot, they needed multiple scenarios to go their way:
Milwaukee held up its end of the bargain with a 128-107 victory over Detroit, but Orlando suffered a 121-106 loss to New York.
As a result, the Knicks won East Group A with a perfect 4-0 record in Group Play. The Magic earned the East wild card with their +45 point differential as the tiebreaker. The Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks tied for the best record in East Group C (3-1), but the Hawks earned the tiebreaker with their win over the C’s on Nov. 12.
The NBA Cup will continue without the Celtics when the knockout round begins on Dec. 10. As for the C’s, they will have two regular-season games added to their schedule: one on Dec. 12 or Dec. 13, and another on Dec. 15 or Dec. 16 (locations and opponents TBD).
First, the C’s will return to action against the Pistons on Wednesday night. Tip-off for that matchup is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.