The NBA Cup is back – the specialized courts, the Statement Edition uniforms, the worrying over point difference (and some teams raising the score), and eventually a champion crowned in Las Vegas.
After a successful first season, the in-season tournament of the NBA returns, rebranded as the NBA Cup. It reports on Tuesday nights and runs every Tuesday and Friday until December. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 NBA Cup.
What is the format for the NBA Cup 2024?
All 30 NBA teams were drawn into six groups of five teams each (three Eastern and three Western). Each team plays the other teams in their group once – four total games, and those games count double as both regular season games and NBA Cup games. Fans will know these are NBA Cup games because they are played on uniquely designed courts where the home team wears their Statement Edition uniforms – these games stand out from other regular season games.
The six group winners plus a wildcard from each conference—determined by head-to-head record and point differential, so fans can see some teams run up the scoreboard—enter the eight-team knockout round bracket (East vs. East, West vs. West to the NBA Cup Finals). The knockout round games are single-elimination.
The final four teams left standing head to Las Vegas for the NBA Cup championship rounds on December 14 and 17.
What are the groups for the NBA Cup 2024?
Here’s a look at the 2024 NBA Cup groups (with some analysis at the end).
The #EmiratesNBACup 2024 Group Draw Results!
Starting November 12th, all 30 teams will compete for the NBA Cup with 8 teams advancing from groups to the knockout rounds, with the semifinals and championship held in Las Vegas, December 14th and 17th! pic.twitter.com/K9BT9b1wT2
— NBA (@NBA) July 12, 2024
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Eastern Group A: New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets
East Group B: Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons
Eastern Group C: Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards
Analysis: Group C drew the only two teams in the East playing well to start the season in Boston and Cleveland, and it’s easy to see one winning the group and the other as the wild card. New York might be the healthiest team in Group A (but Brooklyn has been combative this season). The NBA Cup provides an opportunity for the Bucks, Pacers and Heat to turn around their disappointing starts to the season, making Group B interesting.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
West Group A: Minnesota Timberwolves. THE SCISSORS. Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers
West Group B: Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, San Antonio Spurs
West Group C: Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies
Analysis: West Group C is the “group of death” – the Nuggets, Mavericks, Warriors and Grizzlies are all playing well. Injuries cast a pall over this group (since they are the start of the NBA season) as New Orleans and Memphis will be without key players (Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, CJ McCollum, Desmond Bane) for at least some of the bowl games. . It will be a challenge for the defending bowl champion Lakers to get out of their group with hot teams in Oklahoma City (now without Chet Holmgren) and Phoenix (now without Kevin Durant) in front of them.
What is the schedule for the NBA Cup 2024?
Here is the full schedule for the 2024 NBA Cup (All times Eastern):
Tuesday, November 12:
Miami Heat at Detroit Pistons, 7 p.m
Atlanta Hawks at Boston Celtics, 7 p.m
Charlotte Hornets at Orlando Magic, 7 p.m
New York Knicks at Philadelphia 76ers, 7:30 p.m
Toronto Raptors at Milwaukee Bucks, 8 p.m
Phoenix Suns at Utah Jazz, 9 p.m
Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors, 10 p.m
Minnesota Timberwolves at Portland Trail Blazers, 10 p.m
Friday, November 15:
Philadelphia 76ers at Orlando Magic, 7 p.m
Detroit Pistons at Toronto Raptors, 7 p.m
Miami Heat at Indiana Pacers, 7 p.m
Los Angeles Lakers at San Antonio Spurs, 7:30 p.m
Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks, 7:30 p.m
Brooklyn Nets at New York Knicks, 7:30 p.m
Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers, 7:30 p.m
Denver Nuggets at New Orleans Pelicans, 8 p.m
Phoenix Suns at Oklahoma City Thunder, 8 p.m
Los Angeles Clippers at Houston Rockets, 8 p.m
Minnesota Timberwolves at Sacramento Kings, 10 p.m
Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors, 10 p.m
Tuesday, November 19:
Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics, 7 p.m
Charlotte Hornets at Brooklyn Nets, 7:30 p.m
Denver Nuggets at Memphis Grizzlies, 8 p.m
New Orleans Pelicans at Dallas Mavericks, 8:30 p.m
Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs, 9:30 pm=
Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Lakers, 10:30 p.m
Friday, November 22:
Brooklyn Nets at Philadelphia 76ers, 7 p.m
Boston Celtics at Washington Wizards, 7 p.m
Indiana Pacers at Milwaukee Bucks, 7:30 p.m
Portland Trail Blazers at Houston Rockets, 8 p.m
Golden State Warriors at New Orleans Pelicans, 8 p.m
Atlanta Hawks at Chicago Bulls, 8 p.m
Dallas Mavericks at Denver Nuggets, 10 p.m
Sacramento Kings at Los Angeles Clippers, 10:30 p.m
Tuesday, November 26:
Chicago Bulls at Washington Wizards, 7 p.m
Milwaukee Bucks at Miami Heat, 7:30 p.m
Houston Rockets at Minnesota Timberwolves, 8 p.m
San Antonio Spurs at Utah Jazz, 9 p.m
Los Angeles Lakers at Phoenix Suns, 10 p.m
Friday, November 29:
New York Knicks at Charlotte Hornets, 12 p.m
Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks, 2:30 p.m
New Orleans Pelicans at Memphis Grizzlies, 5 p.m
Orlando Magic at Brooklyn Nets, 7:30 p.m
Los Angeles Clippers at Minnesota Timberwolves, 7:30 p.m
Boston Celtics at Chicago Bulls, 8 p.m
Toronto Raptors at Miami Heat, 8 p.m
Detroit Pistons at Indiana Pacers, 8 p.m
Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Lakers, 10 p.m
Sacramento Kings at Portland Trail Blazers, 10 p.m
Tuesday, December 3:
Philadelphia 76ers at Charlotte Hornets, 7 p.m
Milwaukee Bucks at Detroit Pistons, 7 p.m
Washington Wizards at Cleveland Cavaliers, 7 p.m
Orlando Magic at New York Knicks, 7:30 p.m
Indiana Pacers at Toronto Raptors, 7:30 p.m
Utah Jazz at Oklahoma City Thunder, 8 p.m
Memphis Grizzlies at Dallas Mavericks, 8:30 p.m
San Antonio Spurs at Phoenix Suns, 9 p.m
Houston Rockets at Sacramento Kings, 10 p.m
Golden State Warriors at Denver Nuggets, 10 p.m
Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Clippers, 10:30 p.m
The six group winners plus two wild cards (one from each conference) advance to the knockout round, with the quarterfinals on December 10 and 11. Then the show moves to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the NBA Cup final four, with the semifinals on December 14th and the finals on December 17th.
NBA In Season Tournament 2024 Odds
Here are the odds for the top 10 (well, 11 due to parity) teams to win the 2024 NBA Cup, via our partners at Bet MGM:
Boston Celtics (+400)
New York Knicks (+800)
Cleveland Cavaliers (+1100)
Oklahoma City Thunder (+1200)
Minnesota Timberwolves (+1200)
Denver Nuggets (+1200)
Dallas Mavericks (+1400)
Los Angeles Lakers (+1400)
Milwaukee Bucks (+2000)
Philadelphia 76ers (+2000)
Who won the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament?
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers won the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament (before it was officially branded as the NBA Cup).
Los Angeles went 4-0 in group play (beating the Suns, Jazz, Grizzlies and Trail Blazers) then had little problem in Las Vegas dispatching first Zion Williamson and the Pelicans, then in the Final Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers.
What does the winner of the in-season tournament get?
Money. Players from teams that advance from the group stage receive bonuses from a league-sponsored prize pool, with the teams that advance further gaining more.
Each player on the championship team will receive $500,000.
Each player on the losing team in the NBA Cup Finals receives $200,000. Players from the two teams that advanced to the final four in Las Vegas but lost in the semifinals will each receive $100,000. Players from teams that advanced from group play but lost in the quarterfinals will receive $50,000 each.
While even the championship money is about another game check for a star like LeBron James or Stephen Curry, it can be a significant bump for minimum wage players at the end of the bench.
Where is the 2024 NBA Cup Final taking place?
The 2024 NBA Finals will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday, December 17. The game will be broadcast by TNT.
What is the meaning of the NBA Cup?
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver pushed hard for the NBA Cup to become a reality for a number of reasons.
One, he wanted another trophy for teams and fan bases to cheer about, something to combat the “championship or bust” mentality of some fans. Based on the European football model, the idea was to have a second trophy of value – not as important as an NBA Title, but with merit – for teams to compete for.
Second was Silver’s hope to put some added meaning and energy on a group of regular season games. Silver is understandably annoyed by top teams treating the long 82-game NBA regular season as something they had to go through to get to the “real season” of the playoffs. Fans have caught teams devaluing the regular season, and that’s a flawed business model. Last season, this idea worked to a degree.
Last but not least is the almighty dollar. The inaugural NBA in-season tournament showed increased fan interest and solid ratings—boosted by having LeBron and the Lakers in the Finals—which allowed the league to sell the NBA Cup as an enhancement in its new NBA television rights deal. NBC Sports will air Tuesday night NBA Cup games and ESPN some Friday night games next season, while Amazon Prime will air a Black Friday NBA game and all NBA Cup knockout games, including the Las Vegas semifinals and Finals. That’s extra dollars in the pockets of owners and players.
