Halfway to Glory: The NBA’s 2024 In-Season Tournament Unveiled

The NBA regular season has only gotten more heated with the league’s emerging in-season tradition: the Emirates NBA Cup. In 2024, the league-wide tournament enters its second season after the inaugural 2023 contest saw a massive boost in regular season viewership, in-game innovations like custom-designed court floors and the first NBA games played at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Following the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory in the 2023 tournament, every team will once again compete for their place in the event’s budding history. The 2024 Emirates NBA Cup tips off on November 12 and wraps on December 17. Below, learn all of the ins and outs of the Emirates NBA Cup in-season tournament before any players take the court for the 2024-25 season.

What is the Emirates NBA Cup?

The Emirates NBA Cup is the league’s first schedule format change since the postseason-expanding Play-In Tournament was introduced during the 2020–21 season. Unlike its recent predecessor, the new midseason contest, renamed the Emirates NBA Cup for its second edition in 2024, involves all 30 teams competing on four designated “Cup Nights,” running concurrently with the regular season schedule starting in November. With the exception of the Championship game, wins and losses in the tournament will count towards each team’s overall 2024-25 regular season record.

What is the format of the Emirates NBA Cup?

The Emirates NBA Cup features three stages. Beginning with Group Play, all 30 teams are split into six groups: three from the Eastern Conference and three from the Western Conference. All five teams within a group play each other once for a total of four games — two at home and two away. These games will take place on Tuesdays and Fridays during the regular season, dubbed “Cup Nights,” in November and early December.

Once each team completes their four Group Play matchups, the team with the best tournament record from each of the six groups, as well as one “wild card” from each conference with the second-best tournament record, will advance to a single-elimination Knockout Round. In the event of a tie between two teams following the Group Play stage, the advancing team will be decided sequentially by their head-to-head record within the midseason tournament, point differential in Group Play, total points scored in Group Play (not including overtime), regular season record from the 2023–24 NBA season or random drawing.

The final four teams will then head to the neutral site of T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to play in the Semifinals round on December 14. The Championship game follows on December 17.

How are Emirates NBA Cup groups determined?

To determine the group placements for the Emirates NBA Cup, all 30 teams are ranked within their conference by their win-loss record from the previous season, then divided into five “pots” of three teams. Pot 1 consists of the top three teams and continues in descending order through Pot 5. Pulling from one pot at a time, each team is randomly placed into one of three groups, resulting in three groups of five per conference. The 2024 placements were formally announced on Friday, July 12.

Western Conference

West Group A

• Minnesota Timberwolves
• Los Angeles Clippers
• Sacramento Kings
• Houston Rockets
• Portland Trail Blazers

West Group B

• Oklahoma City Thunder
• Phoenix Suns
• Los Angeles Lakers
• Utah Jazz
• San Antonio Spurs

West Group C

• Denver Nuggets
• Dallas Mavericks
• New Orleans Pelicans
• Golden State Warriors
• Memphis Grizzlies

Eastern Conference

East Group A

• New York Knicks
• Orlando Magic
• Philadelphia 76ers
• Brooklyn Nets
• Charlotte Hornets

East Group B

• Milwaukee Bucks
• Indiana Pacers
• Miami HEAT
• Toronto Raptors
• Detroit Pistons

East Group C

• Boston Celtics
• Cleveland Cavaliers
• Chicago Bulls
• Atlanta Hawks
• Washington Wizards

Why Does the NBA have a Midseason Tournament?

The Emirates NBA Cup was introduced as the In-Season Tournament in 2023 to raise engagement and encourage more competitive play during the pre-All Star Break portion of the NBA season. Typically, primetime NBA games early in the season compete for sports fans’ attention while the NFL and NHL are in full swing. During its official unveiling on July 8, 2023, Commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN, “New traditions take time. But, all throughout sports, we are seeing new innovations, and now is the time for this NBA In-Season Tournament.”

Emirates NBA Cup FAQs

How many rounds are in the Emirates NBA Cup?

The Emirates NBA Cup will feature two stages before the Championship game: a month-long Group Play Round, followed by a single-elimination Knockout Round composed of Quarterfinals and Semifinals games.

When is the Emirates NBA Cup?

The Emirates NBA Cup tips off on Tuesday, November 12. “Cup Nights” will take place every Tuesday and Friday in November and December until the Group Play Round concludes on Tuesday, December 3.

The Knockout Round will begin with a Quarterfinals stage running Tuesday, December 10 and Wednesday, December 11. The single-day Semifinals stage occurs on Saturday, December 14 and the Championship game follows on Tuesday, December 17.

Where is the Emirates NBA Cup taking place?

All Group Play matchups will follow regular season scheduling. Each team will face their four group opponents once, with two home games and two on the road.

During the Knockout Round, all Quarterfinals matchups will take place at the home arenas of teams with the best Group Play records. The Semifinals stage of the Knockout Round as well as Championship game will be hosted at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

How many teams will make the tournament?

All 30 teams will compete in the Group Play Round, while eight teams–consisting of the team with the best tournament record from each group, and two “wild card” teams that earned the second-best tournament record within each conference–advance to the Knockout Round.

What do the winners of the Emirates NBA Cup receive?

Along with the honor of raising the NBA Cup, each player on the winning team of the Emirates NBA Cup will receive $500,000. A prize pool is then divided among all participating Knockout Round teams, with the championship runner-up players earning $200,000 each, players on losing Semifinals teams winning $100,000 each and Quarterfinals competitors netting $50,000 per player.

In addition, the NBA will also name a Most Valuable Player for the midseason contest, along with selections for a league-wide All-Tournament Team based on players’ performance in both Group Play and the Knockout Rounds. In its inaugural season, LeBron James won the NBA Cup MVP behind the Los Angeles Lakers’ 123-109 victory over the Indiana Pacers.