Tuesday night kicked off the NBA’s second installment of the in-season tournament, now known as the NBA Cup. All 30 teams will participate and the final four teams will meet in Las Vegas to decide a champion in December. With such a new event, there is bound to be confusion, so below you will find everything you need to know about the format, teams, prizes, and so on.
With just about three weeks of the season in the books, the first opportunity to win some hardware comes with the NBA Cup. The league added the in-season tournament last season with the Lakers winning the trophy and hefty cash bonus in the tournament’s inaugural season.
Group play
To start, all 30 teams will be divided six groups of five, three groups per conference. Group play matchups will be played on Tuesdays and Fridays between November 12th and December 3rd. Each team will play the other teams in their group one time. The team leading each group will advance to the knockout round, as well as two wild card teams from each conference. The groups are pictured below.
Last night saw 16 teams begin group play:
- Celtics 116 Hawks 117
- Pistons 117 Heat 121
- Magic 114 Hornets 89
- 76ers 99 Knicks 111.
- Bucks 99 Raptors 85
- Jazz 112 Suns 120
- Warriors 120 Mavericks 117
- Trail Blazers 122 Timberwolves 108
Here is the remaining group play schedule :
Friday, Nov. 15
- Pacers vs. Heat, 7 p.m.
- Magic vs. 76ers, 7 p.m.
- Raptors vs. Pistons, 7 p.m.
- Hawks vs. Wizards, 7:30 p.m.
- Cavaliers vs. Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
- Knicks vs. Nets, 7:30 p.m.
- Spurs vs. Lakers, 7:30 p.m.
- Rockets vs. Clippers, 8 p.m.
- Pelicans vs. Nuggets, 8 p.m.
- Thunder vs. Suns, 8 p.m.
- Warriors vs. Grizzlies, 10 p.m.
- Kings vs. Timberwolves, 10 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 19
- Celtics vs. Cavaliers, 7 p.m.
- Nets vs. Hornets, 7:30 p.m.
- Grizzlies vs. Nuggets, 8 p.m.
- Mavericks vs. Pelicans, 8:30 p.m.
- Spurs vs. Thunder, 9:30 p.m.
- Lakers vs. Jazz, 10:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 22
- 76ers vs. Nets, 7 p.m.
- Wizards vs. Celtics, 7 p.m.
- Bucks vs. Pacers, 7:30 p.m.
- Bulls vs. Hawks, 8 p.m.
- Rockets vs. Trail Blazers, 8 p.m.
- Pelicans vs. Warriors, 8 p.m.
- Nuggets vs. Mavericks, 10 p.m.
- Clippers vs. Kings, 10:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 26
- Wizards vs. Bulls, 7 p.m.
- Heat vs. Bucks, 7:30 p.m.
- Timberwolves vs. Rockets, 8 p.m.
- Jazz vs. Spurs, 9 p.m.
- Suns vs. Lakers, 10 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 29
- Hornets vs. Knicks, 12 p.m.
- Hawks vs. Cavaliers, 2:30 p.m.
- Grizzlies vs. Pelicans, 5 p.m.
- Nets vs. Magic, 7:30 p.m.
- Timberwolves vs. Clippers, 7:30 p.m.
- Pacers vs. Pistons, 8 p.m.
- Heat vs. Raptors, 8 p.m.
- Bulls vs. Celtics, 8 p.m.
- Lakers vs. Thunder, 10 p.m.
- Trail Blazers vs. Kings, 10 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 3
- Hornets vs. 76ers, 7 p.m.
- Cavaliers vs. Wizards, 7 p.m.
- Pistons vs. Bucks, 7 p.m.
- Knicks vs. Magic, 7:30 p.m.
- Raptors vs. Pacers, 7:30 p.m.
- Thunder vs. Jazz, 8 p.m.
- Mavericks vs. Grizzlies, 8:30 p.m.
- Suns vs. Spurs, 9 p.m.
- Nuggets vs. Warriors, 10 p.m.
- Kings vs. Rockets, 10 p.m.
- Clippers vs. Trail Blazers, 10:30 p.m.
Quarterfinals
The eight remaining teams will now advance to the quarterfinals, the first of the knockout rounds. tournament games from now on become single elimination. this round will consist of four games, until a final four teams remain. Below is the quarterfinal schedule:
Tuesday, Dec. 10
- TBD vs. TBD
- TBD vs. TBD
Wednesday, Dec. 11
- TBD vs. TBD
- TBD vs. TBD
Semi-Finals and Final
Vegas baby! The last four teams travel to Las Vegas and play the two games that will determine the final matchup. Then the final game will take place three days after; all at the T-Mobile Arena.
Semifinals
Saturday, Dec. 14
- TBD vs. TBD
- TBD vs. TBD
Finals
Tuesday, Dec. 17
- TBD vs. TBD
What will they win?
The teams will be competing for the Emirates NBA Cup and players can earn a hefty bonus based on how far their team advances. Players on the winning team all receive a $500,000 bonus. The runner-ups will earn a $200,000 check. Players that see the semifinals earn $100,000 and the quarterfinals receive $50,000. Following the conclusion of the tournament, an All-Tournament team and a tournament MVP will be decided by a media vote.
What’s new?
The tournament is following the same format as last season, the only real difference is the name and courts. The tournament, formally referred to as the “NBA In-Season Tournament” now known as the “Emirates NBA Cup” sports a little more aura with the title change. The famously unique courts have made a comeback but with different designs this time.
That’s just about everything you need to know! Enjoy this month of high stakes play that will Segway the league into the always highly anticipated Christmas day matchups. See you in Vegas!
Written by Raven Ullah; WUFO Intern
