The NBA Cup has been changed to reflect the in-season competition. Based on their win-loss records, the 30 groups have been broken into six teams for the beginning games.
For its second year in existence, the NBA in-season tournament has been rebranded to the grander Emirates NBA Cup.
The league's effort to add competitive juice to the early part of the regular season before Christmas begins on Nov. 12, and will build toward the tournament's finale in Las Vegas, with the semifinals on Dec. 14 and the championship final on Dec. 17.
The #EmiratesNBACup is back — and here's a refresher on how it works 🏆 pic.twitter.com/La5px2Q9Kv
— ESPN (@espn) July 12, 2024
For the tournament, all 30 NBA teams are drawn into groups of five within their conference and based on their 2023-24 regular-season records. Each team plays one game against the other four opponents in its group.
Group play games will be played on Tuesdays and Fridays through November into early December, according to the league's official release. The Tuesday "Cup Nights" are scheduled for Nov. 12, 19, 26 and Dec. 3, and the Fridays on Nov. 15, 22, and 29.
The eight teams that emerge from group play (winners of each group, along with a wild-card team in each conference) will match up in single-elimination knockout rounds on Dec. 10-11 before advancing to the semifinals and championship game held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The NBA Cup's six groupings were announced Friday night on ESPN and are divided up as follows:
Western Conference
The #EmiratesNBACup Group Reveal for West Groups A, B, and C 🏆Tune into ESPN for the Group Reveal for East Groups A, B and C! pic.twitter.com/P6c8GAP5ga
— NBA (@NBA) July 12, 2024
Minnesota Timberwolves
Los Angeles Clippers
Sacramento Kings
Houston Rockets
Portland Trail Blazers
Oklahoma City Thunder
Phoenix Suns
Los Angeles Lakers
Utah Jazz
San Antonio Spurs
Denver Nuggets
Dallas Mavericks
New Orleans Pelicans
Golden State Warriors
Memphis Grizzlies
Eastern Conference
The #EmiratesNBACup Group Reveal for East Groups A, B, and C 🏆 pic.twitter.com/PWQq1vhzyT
— NBA (@NBA) July 12, 2024
New York Knicks
Orlando Magic
Philadelphia 76ers
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
Milwaukee Bucks
Indiana Pacers
Miami Heat
Toronto Raptors
Detroit Pistons
Boston Celtics
Cleveland Cavaliers
Chicago Bulls
Atlanta Hawks
Washington Wizards
The 22 teams that don't qualify for the knockout round quarterfinals will have two regular-season games added to their schedules, played on Dec. 12-13 and Dec. 15-16. Losing teams from the quarterfinals will be matched up in regular-season games on Dec. 12-16.
FIRST-EVER IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS 🏆The Los Angeles Lakers lift the #NBACup 🙌 pic.twitter.com/8tlF9EKqwu
— NBA (@NBA) December 10, 2023
Last year's inaugural in-season tournament was won by the Lakers, who defeated the Pacers in the championship game, 123-109. LeBron James was named the tournament's most valuable player.
The NBA Cup champions and second-place club split money from a prize pool. Each player from the winning team received $500,000, while the runners-up each got $200,000.
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