The NBA Cup Explained: How the In-Season Tournament Works
The NBA Cup is a tournament played inside the NBA regular season. It started in the 2023-24 season as the In-Season Tournament and was renamed the Emirates NBA Cup from 2024-25.
Group play
All 30 teams are split into six groups of five, three in each conference. Each team plays the other four teams in its group once, two at home and two away, on set nights in November known as Cup nights.
These group games also count as normal regular-season games.
Who reaches the knockouts?
Eight teams go through to the knockout rounds:
- the six group winners
- one wild card from each conference: the second-placed team with the best record
If teams are level on wins, the first tie-breaker is head-to-head, then point differential in group games. That is why coaches sometimes leave starters on late in a Cup game that is already won.
The knockout rounds
- Quarter-finals, played in December at the home of the higher seed.
- Semi-finals in Las Vegas.
- The championship game in Las Vegas a few days later.
The quarter-finals and semi-finals count towards the regular-season standings. The championship game does not: it is an extra game, so the two finalists still play 82 regular-season games in total.
The courts and the prize
Cup games are played on special painted courts, different for every team. Players on the winning team receive prize money on top of their salaries, and the team lifts the NBA Cup trophy.
The first winners
- 2023: Los Angeles Lakers, the first winners
- 2024: Milwaukee Bucks
Why the NBA created it
The regular season is long, and early-season games were often seen as unimportant. A cup with real prize money and a trophy gives November and December games more meaning, in the same way that domestic cup competitions do in European football.
Read more about the NBA in our guides to overtime rules, the shot clock and basketball records.