Aussie accolade cements breakout year; wild trade turnaround in late Cup drama — NBA Wrap

Breakout Aussie Dyson Daniels earned a huge defensive accolade for his hot first quarter of the season.

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Plus the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks advanced to the knockout phase of the NBA Cup with emphatic victories.

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DANIELS’ BIG DEFENSIVE ACCOLADE, KNICKS DOWN MAGIC

Dyson Daniels’ strong first quarter of the season for the Hawks was recognised on Wednesday, with the Aussie named the Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month alongside San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama in the West.

The Aussie leads the NBA in steals per game (three) and deflections (6.7), with the accolade cementing his status as one of the best defensive players in the league this season.

It came on a day Daniels’ Hawks learned they’ll face the Knicks in the NBA Cup quarter-final after New York hammered Orlando 121-106 in a blowout that still allowed the Magic to grab a quarter-final berth.

At Madison Square Garden, the Knicks dominated in the battle to finish unbeaten and win the East Group A, overpowering a Magic team that came in with the third-rated defence in the league.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, Jalen Brunson added 21 points, Mikal Bridges scored 19 and OG Anunoby and Miles McBride scored 18 apiece for the Knicks while Josh Hart contributed a triple-double of 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

Bridges, who cost the Knicks a huge haul of five first-round picks in a big off-season trade with Brooklyn that’s come under scrutiny, was coming a season-best 31-point performance against New Orleans with seven threes.

He’s an absurd +73 plus/minus over his last two games — the first time a player in Knicks history has been above +70 over a two-game sample.

After struggling to impact in the early part of the season, Knick fans will hope Bridges has turned a corner.

Franz Wagner scored 30 to lead Orlando, who were assured of advancing so long as they didn’t lose by 37 points or more.

The Magic, who gave up 32 points on 16 turnovers, saw their deficit hit that number in the third quarter but clawed back to grab the East wildcard berth on points differential over the NBA champion Boston Celtics, who also finished group play 3-1.

The Magic jumped to a quick eight-point lead but the Knicks, needing a victory to advance, put together an 11-0 scoring run to grab a 17-14 advantage on the way to a 36-27 lead after one quarter and never trailed again.

ELSEWHERE …

In Detroit, the Bucks drained 23 three-pointers on the way to a 128-107 victory over the Pistons in a battle of East East Group B leaders that saw the hosts eliminated.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points with seven rebounds and eight assists and Damian Lillard scored 27 points for the Bucks, who have won seven straight games — including a victory over Detroit in which Antetokounmpo dropped a season-high 59 points.

Antetokounmpo made 10 of 11 shots from the floor and sat out the entire fourth quarter.

Lillard drilled five three-pointers and played only the first few minutes of the fourth.

Milwaukee had seized control early, connecting on 69.2 per cent of their shots in the first half — including 15 of 21 from three-point range.

“I thought our ball movement was unbelievable,” Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said. “We just kept finding open guys, played unselfish basketball.”

The quarter-finals of the in-season tournament will be held next Wednesday and Thursday with the semi-finals to be played on December 15 in Las Vegas — where the final will be held on December 18.

Group stage games count as regular-season games and the Cleveland Cavaliers, eliminated from the Cup, easily improved their league-leading record to 19-3 with a 118-87 victory over the Washington Wizards — who dropped their 15th straight.

Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points each for the Cavs, who had seven players score in double figures

ALL RESULTS

BUCKS 128 PISTONS 107

WIZARDS 87 CAVALIERS 118

76ERS 110 HORNETS 104

PACERS 111 RAPTORS 122

MAGIC 106 KNICKS 121

JAZZ 106 THUNDER 133

GRIZZLIES 116 MAVERICKS 121

SPURS 93 SUNS 104

WARRIORS – NUGGETS

ROCKETS – KINGS

TRAIL BLAZERS – CLIPPERS