Australians Dyson Daniels and Tyrese Proctor shared a special moment post-game after the Atlanta Hawks claimed a 130-123 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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That was despite a monster night from Donovan Mitchell, who had 42 points in the loss, while Evan Mobley chipped in with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker led the scoring for the Hawks with 30 but it was Jalen Johnson who impressed the most as he continues to build an impressive comeback season after injury derailed his 2024-25 campaign.
Johnson scored 29 points, adding 12 rebounds and 12 assists and has been a big factor in Atlanta’s success without superstar guard Trae Young.
Daniels has also stepped up as a facilitator in Young’s absence. While his scoring has not always been there, the Australian had an efficient 10 points on Saturday to go with nine assists and eight rebounds while he also had three steals.
“I thought he did a great job of getting in the game and making the right decisions,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said post-game of Daniels.
“Tonight his stats reflected that.”
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Rookie Proctor didn’t see any playing time despite establishing himself as a productive rotation player early in his first year in the league.
But he was still able to share a moment with Daniels post-game, with the pair swapping jerseys.
“That’s my guy,” Daniels told Leigh Ellis post-game.
“We grew up together, played together for two years at the NBA Academy. I’ve known him forever. I’m just glad we’re both in the NBA now and playing for our teams. That’s my guy right there.”
Dyson Daniels and Tyrese Proctor trade jerseys after the game. (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Elsewhere, the **Los Angeles Lakers**, already assured of a quarter-final berth in the NBA Cup, completed a perfect group stage with a 129-119 victory over the **Dallas Mavericks**.
Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 38 points and Luka Doncic added 35 points and 11 assists for Los Angeles.
According to Tim Reynolds of AP, it was the first time that two players on LeBron James’ team, in a game where he played, scored 35 and he wasn’t one of the two.
P.J. Washington led the Mavs with 22 points and Anthony Davis scored 12 points with five rebounds and five assists in his first game against his former team since the Lakers sent him to Dallas in the shock trade that brought Doncic to Los Angeles last February.
Davis was back after missing 14 games with a calf strain.
The **New York Knicks**, fueled by 37 points from Jalen Brunson, punched their ticket to the NBA Cup quarter-finals with a 118-109 victory over **Milwaukee** that knocked the defending in-season tournament champion Bucks out of the competition.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from a four-game injury absence to score 30 points with 15 rebounds and eight assists in 28 minutes, but the Bucks dropped their seventh straight.
“We had the opportunity to go to Vegas twice in a row. Not going and being able to gamble on 34 red one more time is going to be very tough for me,” Antetokounmpo said post-game.
“At the end of the day, I want to win. We’ve lost 7 in a row. I don’t remember the last time I lost 7 in a row.”
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Trailing by four to start the fourth quarter, the Bucks pulled within two points on an Antetokounmpo dunk with 5:19 remaining.
But the Knicks pulled away thanks in large part to Brunson, who made nine out of 10 free-throws, including four of four in the final period.
The Knicks finished atop their group and their victory at Madison Square Garden also saw the Miami Heat advance as the Eastern Conference wild card to the quarter-finals to be played December 9 and 10.
Six knockout round berths were on the line in Saturday’s final 11 games of group play in the in-season tournament, in which all games except the final also count in the regular-season standings.
The short-handed **San Antonio Spurs** advanced with a 139-136 come-from-behind victory over Nikola Jokic and the **Denver Nuggets**.
With Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle sidelined by injury, Devin Vassell scored a season-high 35 points and Julian Champagnie added 25 points and 10 rebounds for San Antonio, who trailed by as many as 18 in the third quarter.
After a flurry of lead changes early in the fourth, Denver’s Jamal Murray tied it at 126-126 with 1:41 left. Vassell made back-to-back three-pointers and the Spurs held on.
Murray finished with 37 points and Nuggets star Nikola Jokic added 21 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists, but Denver were eliminated from the Cup.
The **Orlando Magic** also advanced with a gritty 112-109 victory over the **Pistons** in Detroit.
Two days after their 13-game winning streak was ended in Boston, the Pistons rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to twice take a one-point lead, but the Magic came through in the final minutes.
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Desmond Bane scored 37 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Franz Wagner added 21 points and Anthony Black scored 16 off the bench for the Magic, who withstood a 39-point triple-double from Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, who added 13 rebounds and 11 assists.
The Magic pulled down a trio of offensive rebounds in the final minute and Jalen Suggs drilled a pair of free throws with 6.3 seconds left that sealed the win and saw Orlando advance with a perfect 4-0 record in group play.
The **Oklahoma City Thunder**, the reigning NBA champions and runner-up to the Bucks in last season’s NBA Cup, fended off a late **Phoenix** charge to beat the Suns 123-119 and finish top of their group.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter and handed out eight assists for the Thunder, who led by 15 early in the final period only for the Suns to twice cut the deficit to one.
The Thunder were clinging to a two-shot lead with 4.7 seconds left when Gilgeous-Alexader converted a pair of free throws and Oklahoma City closed it out.
Jalen Williams, making his season debut after recovering from off-season wrist surgery, scored 11 points and handed out eight assists for the Thunder, who advance as winners of their group.
The Suns secured the Western Conference wild card ahead of **Memphis** despite the Grizzlies’ 112-107 victory over the **Los Angeles Clippers**.