SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs are one NBA Cup win away from clinching first place in Western Conference Group B, which is a remarkable turnaround from last season’s 0-4 record in NBA Cup group play.
All the Spurs need to do is win against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday to secure Group B and advance to the Knockout Rounds. The San Antonio Spurs are 3-5 on the road this season, while the Phoenix Suns are 7-4 at home. The two teams have yet to play against each other this season.
Recommended Videos
The Spurs, Suns, and Oklahoma City Thunder are currently tied for first place in Group B with a 2-1 record. The Los Angeles Lakers follow at 2-2, and the Utah Jazz are 0-3.
Even with a loss to the Suns, the Spurs could still advance to the Knockout Rounds, but the team would need other outcomes to fall in its favor. The Dallas Mavericks are currently in line to claim the West wild card spot.
The NBA Cup is divided into five groups within their conference, with three groups in the West and three in the East.
Eight teams will advance to the knockout rounds, the six group winning teams, and two wild cards. One team from each conference with the second-best group play record grabs a wild card.
Head-to-head results are the first tiebreaker, followed by point differential and total points scored in Group Play. The Spurs own the head-to-head advantage over the Oklahoma City Thunder due to their 110-104 win against the team.
If the Suns beat the Spurs, then the San Antonio Spurs will need the Thunder team to lose against Jazz by a margin that could hurt Oklahoma City’s point differential. Additionally, the Mavericks in Group A would need to lose, and the Spurs would need to keep it close in a loss to the Suns for them to earn the West’ lone wild card spot.
That’s a lot of help needed. The best thing the San Antonio Spurs can do is beat the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday at the Footprint Center to advance in the NBA Cup knockout rounds.