Here’s a quick, easy-to-follow recap of the NBA games from December 15 and 16, highlighting who won, who lost, and how each game played out. It’s a snapshot of the key results and overall flow from each matchup without getting into box-score detail.

In other words, how did past champions of the NBA Cup—the Lakers in 2023-24, the Bucks in 2024-25—perform the rest of the way in the regular season and in the postseason, if they advanced that far? Let's take a deep dive.

Looking back at the Emirates NBA Cup winner, the game MVP and All-NBA Cup teams from each season. New York's depth delivers big, Karl-Anthony Towns returns for the moment and the Knicks hope to flip the Cup script.

Later, they respond to commissioner Adam Silver’s comments regarding the NBA injury crisis and propose solutions to end the prolonged absence of star power for the league. (1:14) The Big Number: $530,

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.