The NBA Cup Semifinals are ready! Four teams advanced to Las Vegas and two will ultimately get a chance to advance to the championships on December 17th at T-Mobile Arena.
To summarize, in the first half of the regular season, all 30 teams were divided into 5 groups and played 4 designated group games. Eight teams, four from each conference, advanced through the group stage to advance to the quarterfinals of the NBA’s second season tournament.
Top seed Milwaukee Bucks (Eastern Group B winner) defeated Orlando Magic (Eastern wildcard) 114-109 to advance to the Eastern semifinals. They will face the Atlanta Hawks (East Group C winners) after the Hawks defeated the New York Knicks (East Group A winners) Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Oklahoma City Thunder (winner of Western Group B), the No. 1 seed in the West, defeated the Dallas Mavericks (Western wild card) 118-104. They beat the Golden State Warriors (West Group C winners) in a rough fourth quarter finish on Wednesday and will now face the Houston Rockets (West Group A winners).
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Schedule | FAQ
2024 Emirates NBA Cup Schedule
Always Eastern Time
Quarterfinals, Tuesday
Bucks 114, Magic 109
Thunder 118, Mavericks 104
Quarterfinals, Wednesday
Hawks 108, Knicks 100
Rockets 91, Warriors 90
Semifinals, Saturday
Atlanta Hawks vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 4:30 p.m. (TNT)
Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 7:30 p.m. (ABC)
December 17th
Championship, 8:30 p.m. (ABC)
Previous group stage results
November 12th
Hawks 117, Celtics 116
Magic 114, Hornets 89
Piston 123, Heat 121 (OT)
Knicks 111, 76ers 99
Bucks 99, Raptors 85
Suns 120, Jazz 112
Trail Blazers 122, Timberwolves 108
Warriors 120, Mavericks 117
November 15th
Heat 124, Pacers 111
Magic 98, 76ers 86
Pistons 99, Raptors 95
Lakers 120, Spurs 115
Hawks 129, Wizards 117
Cavaliers 144, Bulls 126
Pelicans 101, Nuggets 94
Knicks 124, Nets 122
Rockets 125, Clippers 104
Thunder 99, Suns 83
Timberwolves 130, Kings 126 (OT)
Warriors 123, Grizzlies 118
November 19th
Celtics 120, Cavaliers 117
Nets 116, Hornets 115
Nuggets 122, Grizzlies 110
Mavericks 132, Pelicans 91
Spurs 110, Thunder 110
Lakers 124, Jazz 118
November 22nd
76ers 113, Nets 98
Celtics 108, Wizards 96
Warriors 112, Pelicans 108
Bucks 129, Pacers 117
Bulls 136, Hawks 122
Rockets 116, Trail Blazers 88
Mavericks 123, Nuggets 120
Clippers 108, Kings 88
November 26th
Bulls 127, Wizards 108
Bucks 106, Heat 103
Rockets 117, Timberwolves 111 (OT)
Spurs 128, Jazz 115
Suns 127, Lakers 100
November 29th
Knicks 99, Hornets 98
Hawks 117, Cavaliers 101
Grizzlies 120, Pelicans 109
Timberwolves 93, Clippers 92
Magic 123, Net 100
Piston 130, Pacers 106
Heat 121, Raptors 111
Celtics 138, Bulls 129
Thunder 101, Lakers 93
Trail Blazers 115, Kings 106
December 3
76ers 110, Hornets 104
Cavaliers 118, Wizards 87
Bucks 128, Piston 107
Knicks 121, Magic 106
Raptors 122, Pacers 111
Thunder 133, Jazz 106.
Mavericks 121, Grizzlies 116
Suns 104, Spurs 93
Nuggets 119, Warriors 115
Kings 120, Rockets 111
Clippers 127, Trail Blazers 105
Frequently Asked Questions (written by Tim Bontemps)
The NBA has revealed the six groups for the second season of the tournament, now called the Emirates NBA Cup. Here’s everything you need to know about the return to competition.
What is the format?
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has long been fascinated by European soccer. The idea of ​​having an in-season cup competition within the NBA schedule is to run concurrently with the league season, with a regular season title won by the team with the most points over the course of the year, and a separate tournament (or, in some leagues, multiple tournaments).
For example, in England there are various divisions centered around the Premier League and also the FA Cup. However, unlike European leagues, which have cup competitions outside of the league schedule, the NBA Cup is included in the regular season schedule.
The 30 NBA teams were divided into six five-team groups (three Eastern Conference teams and three Western Conference teams), with each team playing one game against the other four teams in that group. The winner of each group and the team with the best record among non-group winners will advance to the knockout rounds.
How will this affect the regular season schedule and standings?
Typically, the NBA sends out its entire 82-game schedule in mid-August. But now the league will only field 80 games, leaving a gap of roughly a week that can be filled later depending on how the NBA Cup group stage progresses.
A team that makes it to the NBA Cup Finals actually gets to play 83 games. However, championship matches are not included in rankings or statistical metrics. Teams that lose in the semifinals have played the full 82-game schedule and have nothing to add.
The two teams from East and West that lost in the quarterfinals will play their 82nd match on one of December 12th, 13th, 15th or 16th. Meanwhile, the 22 teams that failed to advance to the knockout stage will play the other players eliminated from the group stage, with the final two matches of the round scheduled to be home and away on December 12 or 13 and 15 or 16. We are planning to unfold it.
Why does the NBA Cup include regular season games?
Before the in-season tournaments began, one of the main questions was which teams would be incentivized to participate in these tournaments. Making every game a part of the season and being in a conference is potentially important from a playoff winner standpoint, so the NBA will motivate its teams.
If this had been structured like a cup tournament in European soccer, nothing would have prevented NBA teams from opting out, literally or figuratively. That means sitting out your best players for extra rest.
What teams make up the group?
To create the groups, the NBA placed all 15 teams from each conference into five pots separated by their standings from last season. Pot 1 includes the teams that finished 1st-3rd on regular season record, teams 4-6 are in Pot 2, teams 7-9 are in Pot 3, teams 10-12 are in Pot 4 and teams 13-15 are in Pot 5. Included.
As a result, the following groups were selected:
East A: New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets
East B: Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons
East C: Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards
West A: Minnesota Timberwolves, LA Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers
West B: Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, San Antonio Spurs
West C: Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies
Does one group stand out more than the others?
Yes, one thing is clear: West Group C, which includes the Nuggets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Warriors and Grizzlies.
Because of the way the draw is conducted, Golden State and Memphis, who have dealt with a combination of suspensions and injuries, are much stronger than the teams in the bottom two pots would expect.
But in addition to featuring current MVPs Nikola Jokic and Zion Williamson, the group could also provide the first meeting between Klay Thompson and his former team since signing with Dallas after 13 seasons in Golden State.
What do players gain from winning?
Last year’s winning team players each received $500,000, and the runner-up team received $200,000. Players who lost in the semifinals each received $100,000, and players who were eliminated in the quarterfinals each received $50,000.
This year, the prize money will be slightly higher due to annual negotiated increases to keep pace with the increase in salary caps and basketball-related income as part of the most recent collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association.
Does anyone win individual honors in NBA Cup games?
In addition to MVP awards, All-Tournament Team awards will also be awarded.
Will this affect the playoffs?
It doesn’t go beyond games that count toward the regular season standings (and tiebreakers). There was debate among league insiders about guaranteeing a playoff berth for winning the tournament, but ultimately that idea (or other ideas that would provide additional incentives to teams) was never enacted.
The debate continued after last year’s tournament winners, the Lakers, advanced to the play-in tournament, while the runners-up, the Pacers, barely made it to the play-in tournament. But ultimately, the only impact on the playoffs comes from the wins and losses that occur throughout the tournament.
Why is it called the Emirates NBA Cup?
The league signed a sponsorship deal with Dubai-based airline Emirates to sponsor the tournament following its inaugural competition. The NBA said last year that it used a combination of the most basic titles “In-Season Tournament” and “NBA Cup” for both tournaments and trophies to introduce the concept to fans.
But using these nondescript names had another distinct advantage. If the tournament and cup were to become assets, it would have given the league a blank slate so they could eventually sell them to sponsors and avoid the complications that might arise from having someone named them (e.g. one possibility that came up before the tournament was officially revealed was The late NBA Commissioner David Stern.
