Here’s what we know about the NBA Cup and what those around the league are saying ahead of Friday’s first set of group stage games.
The NBA announced on Aug. 15 its schedule for the group stage for the inaugural in-season tournament, which will see the winning team earn the NBA Cup and its players $500,000 each.
The tournament — whose final will be on Dec. 9 in Las Vegas — will see each NBA team play a four-game group stage in November, with the group winners advancing to the knockout rounds.
The tourney will be a proving ground for the league’s newest star, as Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs have more nationally televised games (three) than any other team during this month’s four-game group stage.
So what, exactly, is the NBA Cup? How will the tournament work? Why is it happening? What is the NBA hoping to get out of it?
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Friday | FAQ | Full Schedule
Myles Turner’s dunk off a pass from Tyrese Haliburton 19 seconds into the Indiana Pacers’ win over Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night became the first basket scored in the history of the NBA’s in-season tournament.
What to know about the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament, including the Dec. 9 final in Las Vegas.
• First games recap | Nuggets re-paint 3-pt. line
• Bontemps: FAQ on format, schedule, prize money
• Lowe: NBA banking on tourney’s new court designs
Friday’s slate of seven games marked the first of seven days of group stage games across the month of November, including the next three Fridays along with Nov. 14, 21 and 28.
In arguably the night’s best game, the Golden State Warriors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder when Stephen Curry flipped in a layup with less than a second to go that, after a very lengthy review, was determined to have counted despite Draymond Green hitting the rim.
Elsewhere, the tournament’s first overtime game saw the Portland Trail Blazers keep the Memphis Grizzlies winless. Also, the 3-point line at Ball Arena had to be re-painted prior to tipoff between the Denver Nuggets and the Dallas Mavericks. The league is using colorful alternate court designs for all 30 teams for tournament matches.
Read Friday’s full recap here.
East A results
Pacers 121, Cavaliers 116
East B results
Bucks 110, Knicks 105
Heat 121, Wizards 114
East C results
Nets 109, Bulls 107
West A results
Trail Blazers 115, Grizzlies 113 (OT)
West B results
Nuggets 125, Mavericks 114
West C results
Warriors 141, Thunder 139
Jimmy Butler was ready to leave.
The superstar forward for the Miami Heat was inside the visiting locker room at Boston’s TD Garden after Miami’s Oct. 27 loss to the Celtics when he was asked for his thoughts on the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament.
Butler cracked a toothy grin.
« You want me to tell the truth? » he said, glancing at the Heat’s public relations employee standing nearby.
When it was relayed to Butler that the truth is what was being asked for, he said, « I just love hooping. I don’t care what you call it. I just like to play basketball.
« That’s all I’m going to say. »
Butler was then asked if that meant it was safe to assume he wasn’t interested in a new tournament to win, and instead was focused solely on raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy, and he smiled again.
« I mean, you said it, » Butler said. « Not me. You said it. Not me. »
Butler’s stance isn’t an uncommon one. After years of discussion about the possibility of the creation of some sort of midseason tournament — one akin to those that take place in soccer and basketball leagues around the world — the NBA has finally embraced that reality. Friday night’s set of seven games serves as the opening night of seven days of NBA Cup group stage games across the month of November, followed by an eight-team, single-elimination knockout round that culminates with the final on Dec. 9 in Las Vegas.
While there is an understandable amount of confusion and resistance to the in-season tournament’s addition to the NBA’s calendar, several players and coaches expressed a general feeling of optimism about the possibilities of what this event can become, and an openness to seeing how this first version of it plays out.
« I’m game for it, » Butler’s coach, Erik Spoelstra, said. « I trust the process. This is something that they’ve been talking about for several years. So we’ve had time to think about it, debate it. »
Several people, unprompted, mentioned the play-in games being added to the schedule in recent years as an analog to the creation of the in-season tournament. As in this situation, there was skepticism about whether there was a need to alter the league’s playoff format, going from just having eight teams make the playoffs to having the seventh through 10th seeds in each conference play a mini tournament for the final two spots.
But after some compelling play-in games in recent years — and seeing both the Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers make deep playoff runs coming out of it last postseason — it now has become an essential part of the league’s calendar.
« The last time there was a move like this, it was a play-in, » Spoelstra said. « I remember everybody saying, ‘Oh, it’s a horrible idea, this and that.’ But I think it’s been really good for the league. … So this, I think, just give it a little bit of time and I think, ultimately, it’ll be good for the league. »
The league’s front office will certainly be hoping for a similar embrace of this event. Only time will tell, however, if that will be the case.
« I’ve been a part of [the] conversations since they first happened, » said Golden State Warriors guard Chris Paul, who also spent years serving as president of the National Basketball Players Association. « I think the in-season tournament has an opportunity to be something big for the league. … As players, as the league and everything, you [are] always trying to continue to grow the game. I think this is a good way. »
Few people in the NBA have more experience with this type of competition than Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse, who spent a decade serving as a head coach in Europe, primarily in England.
« Well, personally, I love it, » Nurse said. « I’ve been through it a lot of years over there.
