What Is The NBA Cup?
Last season in the NBA, a brand new in-season cup competition was introduced – The NBA Cup. After many years of discussions and proposals, the inaugural NBA Cup was contested last season, under the unwieldy name of the NBA In-Season Tournament.
The Los Angeles Lakers were the first winners of the tournament, with LeBron James named the tournament MVP.
Now sponsored by Emirates Airlines, the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup, begins in November and runs through until December. All 30 teams in the NBA are involved and all matches, except for the NBA Cup Final (or Championship Game), in the tournament will count towards the NBA regular season records for each team.
Let’s learn a little more about this tournament and how it is organised.
2024 Emirates NBA Cup – Organisation
- Dates – Tuesday 12th November to Tuesday 17th December.
- Organisation – Each Conference of 15 teams is divided into three groups of five teams.
Opening Phase
The opening phase sees the group stage. Each team plays four group games, one against each of the opponents in their group.
After each team has played their four games, the top team in each of the six groups qualify for the knockout phase. In addition, the second-placed team with the best record in each conference also qualifies for the knockout phase.
The 22 teams knocked out of the tournament at this stage will play two additional games, one at home and one away from home to ensure they play the same number of games as all teams in the tournament.
Quarter Finals
The two teams with the best records from the Group Stage in each conference will host the quarter finals. The winners progress into the semi-finals.
The four losing teams in the quarterfinals play one additional game against another losing quarter-final opponent from the same conference to ensure they play the same number of games.
Semi Finals & Final
The semi-finals and final of the NBA Cup are played in Las Vegas on neutral territory.
Each team will then have played 7 NBA Cup/Regular Season games apart from the two NBA Cup finalists. However, as the NBA Cup Final is not counted as a regular season game, only their first seven matches count towards their regular season record.
Affect on NBA Regular Season
All Group Stage games, all knockout games and additional games for teams knocked out of the tournament at various points, count towards each team’s NBA regular season record.
Only the NBA Cup Championship game does not count towards either team’s regular season record.
2024 NBA Cup – Group Phase Draw
Eastern Conference
Group A – NY Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets
Group B – Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons
Group C – Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards
Western Conference
Group A – Minnesota Timberwolves, LA Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers
Group B – Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, LA Lakers, Utah Jazz, San Antonio Spurs
Group C – Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies.
The Boston Celtics are the current favourites to win the NBA Cup in 2024 at odds of 4.75 with bet365 Sport.
