Tuesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinals game between the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic won’t look like an NBA Cup contest.
The Magic will use one of their standard courts at Kia Center because their special in-season tournament design was damaged in storage, according to the Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman:
This is the second court-related problem in this year’s NBA Cup. The Los Angeles Lakers had to send theirs in for repairs after players complained of a slippery surface in a 135-118 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 25.
The Magic advanced to the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup after winning all four of their games in the group stage. The Heat went 3-1 and qualified by having the best point differential among the second-place finishers.
The winner of Tuesday night’s clash will advance to Saturday’s semifinals. The semis and the championship game on Dec. 16 are both held in Las Vegas, so this will be the last NBA Cup game in Orlando this season regardless of the result.
The Magic will have to overcome the absence of leading scorer Franz Wagner, who’s sidelined with a high-ankle sprain.