The reigning NBA MVP and Finals MVP has another trophy in reach as OKC, Orlando, New York and San Antonio head to Las Vegas.

Here is what happened on Wednesday night in the Western Conference quarterfinals matchups in the NBA Cup. San Antonio came in with a plan. First, get out in transition. Trust the team’s depth of ball handling guards to run past the Lakers — and the Spurs executed that,

The San Antonio Spurs held off the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday, Dec. 10 in a 132-119 victory in the final game of the NBA Cup quarterfinals. San Antonio had seven different players reach double figures in scoring, but guard Stephon Castle posted a 30-point double-double with 10 rebounds and 6 assists.

Of the four teams going to Las Vegas for the NBA Cup semifinals, the Orlando Magic have the worst record of the bunch. While a 15-10 mark over the first 25 game

LeBron debuts a fresh Nike colorway during the NBA Cup. If there’s one guarantee in this tournament, it’s that LeBron James will treat every game like a nationally televised runway—it just so happens he plays elite basketball on the side.

On the Eastern Conference side of the bracket on Tuesday, the Orlando Magic came back from a 15-0 deficit to defeat their in-state rivals, the Miami Heat, while the surging New York Knicks used a dominant second quarter to race past the Toronto Raptors and win for the eighth time in their last nine games.

"There's a little added juice to it knowing what's at stake. If you win, you move on and try to win something," one player said.

This quirk in the schedule is a great chance for teams to lick their early-season wounds. Nick Nurse has said this break comes at a good time as the Sixers are not only getting injured players back on the court, but newly returning players are seeing their minutes restrictions increase.

The sequence sparked a roar from the Crypto.com Arena crowd and had the potential to intimidate the unproven Spurs, who were playing in this do-or-die NBA Cup quarterfinal without injured franchise star Victor Wembanyama.

December is a month stocked with tradition. We all have them. The way you hang your lights around the house for the holidays. The sentimental ornaments that cling to branches on the tree. The long list of rituals that pull the past into the present and remind us where we came from.