The IST is upon us!
Remember the In-Season Tournament from last season? Those courts that assaulted the rods and cones in your eyes, and the format the players still didnβt seem to understand until we got to single elimination? Well, itβs back, it starts Tuesday, and it has a cool new name β The NBA Cup!
So, when exactly is the NBA Cup? Every Tuesday and Friday between Nov. 12 and Dec. 3 will be the NBA Cup Group Play action. Youβll know itβs an NBA Cup night by the special courts weβre seeing just for these games. To break it down completely, itβs the next four Tuesdays and the next three Fridays. Then, weβll have the tournament portion of the NBA Cup happening Dec. 10 and 11.
The NBA Cup heads to Las Vegas again on Dec. 14 with the NBA Cup championship on Dec. 17. Oh, just a reminder the NBA Cup champ gets a banner and a trophy, and each player on the roster grabs $500,000 for winning it all.
And how does it work? We have six groups of five teams each. Three groups in the East. Three groups in the West. Each team will play four games within their group. The winner of each group will advance, as well as one wild card team from each conference. Tiebreakers will depend on head-to-head within group play and point differential as the first two. So, when you see teams running up the score at the end of these group play games, itβs actually what youβre supposed to do.
What are the groups again? Iβm so glad you asked!
East A: Knicks, Nets, Magic, 76ers, Hornets
East B: Bucks, Pacers, Heat, Raptors, Pistons
East π Celtics, Bulls, Cavaliers, Hawks, Wizards
West A: Wolves, Clippers, Kings, Rockets, Blazers
West B: Thunder, Suns, Lakers, Jazz, Spurs
West π Nuggets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Warriors, Grizzlies
Rankings the NBA Cup tournament courts in 2024 from worst to 'Please delete this"
https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/nba-cup-tournament-courts-ranked-2024
#1 ranked: