NBA Cup 2026 explained: groups, schedule, how teams qualify and the final in Indianapolis

The NBA Cup, the league’s in-season tournament, returns for its fourth edition with group games starting on Friday 30 October. Most of its games are regular-season games with extra stakes, so every result counts twice: once in the standings and once in the Cup.

The six groups

The 30 teams are split into six groups of five, three in each conference. Teams were drawn from five pots based on last season’s records. Eastern Conference — Group A: Detroit, Toronto, Orlando, Milwaukee, Brooklyn. Group B: New York, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Miami, Indiana. Group C: Boston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Washington.

Western Conference — Group A: Denver, Houston, Phoenix, Dallas, Utah. Group B: Oklahoma City, Minnesota, LA Clippers, New Orleans, Memphis. Group C: San Antonio, LA Lakers, Portland, Golden State, Sacramento. East Group B looks like the toughest group: the champion Knicks, Cleveland, LeBron James’ 76ers and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Heat.

How the group stage works

Each team plays four group games, one against each group opponent, two at home and two away. According to the NBA’s schedule, Cup nights are Fridays from 30 October to 27 November, plus Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 November. The six group winners advance, along with one wild card per conference: the best second-placed team.

Tiebreakers

If teams finish level, the order is decided by head-to-head result in the group, then point differential in group games, then total points scored in group games, with further criteria after that. Overtime periods do not count toward point differential, which stops teams from running up margins in extra time.

The knockout rounds

Quarter-finals are single games on 4-5 December, hosted by the higher-ranked teams. This season the semi-finals on 8-9 December are also played in the higher seed’s arena, rather than at a neutral site, and the championship game is on Friday 11 December at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, one of basketball’s most historic venues.

Does it count?

Group games, quarter-finals and semi-finals all count toward the regular-season standings. The final does not, and its statistics are excluded from regular-season totals. Teams that do not reach the knockouts play extra games so that everyone still finishes with 82.

Prize money

The tournament comes with prize money for players: reported figures are about $515,000 per player for the champions, about $206,000 for the runners-up, about $103,000 for semi-final losers and about $51,000 for quarter-final losers. Previous winners include the Lakers in 2023 and the Bucks in 2024.