Though their players missed out on a trip to Las Vegas and a shot at the $514,971 grand prize, the Celtics’ early elimination from the NBA Cup could wind up helping them in the long run.

Teams that fail to advance to the knockout rounds — as Boston did when it lost a wild-card point-differential tiebreaker to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday — play two newly scheduled games against other eliminated teams from their conference.

For the Celtics, those games will be home against the Detroit Pistons next Thursday, Dec. 12 (7:30 p.m. ET) and at the Washington Wizards next Sunday (6 p.m.). They will have four consecutive days off before the Detroit matchup and a two-day break between the two games, which will count as standard regular-season contests.

The Pistons and Wizards both sat outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture as of Wednesday, with Washington owning the NBA’s worst record at 2-17. The Celtics have won 10 straight against the Pistons and six straight against the Wizards, including a 3-0 record against the two clubs this season.

So, not a bad consolation prize for Boston, which could have drawn an additional matchup with East-leading Cleveland after the Cavaliers also missed out on the knockout rounds.

Boston also would have faced playoff-caliber opponents had it advanced in the NBA Cup. The Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks and Magic made the quarterfinals out of the Eastern Conference, with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks earning the four spots out West.

Teams eliminated in the quarterfinals will play an additional game against another losing quarterfinalist. All NBA Cup games except for the championship count toward the regular-season standings.