Familiar foes, unfamiliar circumstances and immediate consequences. That’s the theme for the doubleheader of Eastern Conference clashes Tuesday night.

Our first clue that this is, well, different is that the Miami-Orlando and New York-Toronto games are the only ones on the schedule. The stage otherwise has been cleared to showcase two of the four quarterfinal games in the Emirates NBA Cup Knockout Round (the West’s side of the bracket is set for Wednesday).

And while seeing the Heat head upstate to face the Magic and the Knicks take a short flight north to play the Raptors might have a business-as-usual feel to it – these are intra-division clashes between foes quite familiar with each other – the stakes are anything but.

Win, and you earn a trip to Las Vegas for the Cup semifinals on

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