The Lakers' NBA Cup supremacy was too hilarious to survive

PLUS: The Rockets are making a run at it.

Good morning. Pretty short newsletter this morning. Let’s basketball.

The Girl Covered By the Sun; Valentin Serov; 1888

---

NBA Cupdate

EAST A
Nothing happened.

EAST B
Bucks 106, Heat 103 — Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t play due to swelling in his knee. Damian Lillard had no such problem.

We’ll go ahead and shrug off that the Bucks led by 22 in the third and Miami tied the game in the fourth. What matters is the win, Milwaukee’s fifth straight, their third in three games in the NBA Cup and the victory that finally got them to .500 for the first time since they were 1-1.

The Bucks’ path to the NBA Cup knockouts is clear: beat Detroit next Tuesday. Miami is basically toast.

EAST C
Bulls 127, Wizards 108 — The Wizards may never win again. That’s 12 straight losses. They are officially eliminated from NBA Cup contention. Better luck next year.

Chicago, meanwhile, remains in the mix at 2-1 with a better-looking scoring margin than they had before this game. East C is going to come down to the wire. It’s going to be hilarious if Chicago or Atlanta gets by on margin over Boston and Cleveland.

WEST A
Rockets 117, Timberwolves 111 — What a win for Houston. Real-ass basketball here.

Alperen Sengun has them speaking in tongues in H-Town.

Houston clinches West A with the win. Minnesota slips under .500 on the season. It’s hard to call anything a disaster when the Sixers are in earshot, but … this isn’t a good start to the season for the Wolves.