NBA Cup 2026 Tips Off Friday: Groups, Tiebreakers and the Road to Indianapolis
The NBA's in-season tournament is back for its fourth year. Group play for the 2026 Emirates NBA Cup starts this Friday, October 30, with Knicks at 76ers and Lakers at Warriors on Prime Video. Eight teams will still be standing in December, and one will lift the Cup on December 11 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the first final played outside Las Vegas.
The six groups
All 30 teams are split into six five-team groups, three per conference. Each team plays the other four in its group once:
- East A: Pistons, Raptors, Magic, Bucks, Nets
- East B: Knicks, Cavaliers, 76ers, Heat, Pacers
- East C: Celtics, Hawks, Hornets, Bulls, Wizards
- West A: Nuggets, Rockets, Suns, Mavericks, Jazz
- West B: Thunder, Timberwolves, Clippers, Pelicans, Grizzlies
- West C: Spurs, Lakers, Trail Blazers, Warriors, Kings
Group games land on Fridays (October 30 and November 6, 13 and 20), plus a Thanksgiving-week stretch on November 24, 25 and 27. East B looks like the group of death, with the defending champion Knicks, who beat the Spurs 124-113 in last year's final, sharing it with Cleveland, Philadelphia, Miami and Indiana.
Who gets out
Six group winners advance, plus one wild card per conference: the second-place team with the best group record. In each conference, the two teams with the best records host quarterfinals on December 4–5, and the top seed gets the wild card. Semifinals follow on December 8–9 at the higher seed's arena.
The tiebreakers are the real story
With only four games each, ties are almost guaranteed. The league breaks them in this order:
- Head-to-head result in group play
- Point differential in group play
- Total points scored in group play
- Last season's regular-season record
- Random drawing
The twist: overtime doesn't count. A game that goes to OT is scored as a zero point differential, and overtime points are left out of the total. That stops teams from running up the score in extra time, but it also makes margin of victory in regulation a real weapon. Expect some coaches to keep pushing late in lopsided games.
Why organizers should watch
The NBA Cup is basically a pool-play-to-bracket event, the same structure behind most youth basketball weekends and adult rec tournaments. Small groups, a wild card, and tiebreakers set before tip-off keep every game meaningful. Note that the final doesn't count toward the regular-season standings, while the group games do.
If you're running your own pool-play event this winter, tournament99 builds the groups, tracks point differential and moves the qualifiers into a bracket for you.
Sources: NBA.com: NBA Cup 101 · NBA.com: Group play schedule · ABC7: 2026 NBA Cup schedule, format, groups