2026 NBA Cup

2026 NBA Cup
Tournament information
Location
  • Local NBA cities (group stage, quarterfinals and semifinals)
  • Indianapolis (championship game)
DateOctober 30 – December 11, 2026
Venues
  • Local NBA arenas (group stage, quarterfinals and semifinals)
  • Hinkle Fieldhouse (championship game)
Teams30
PurseSee prize money

The 2026 NBA Cup (known as the Emirates NBA Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an upcoming multi-stage basketball tournament that will be played during the 2026–27 NBA season. It will be the fourth edition of the NBA Cup. All 30 teams participate, each playing four regular season games that count towards the tournament's group stage standings. All games in the knockout round, except for the championship game, also count towards the regular season standings. The tournament's championship game will be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.[1]

Format

The tournament's format was similar to in-season, multi-stage tournaments in European soccer.[2]

In the group stage, each conference was divided into three groups with five teams each, for a total of six groups. Regular season games played on Tuesdays and Fridays between October 30 and November 27 counted in the regular season standings and the NBA Cup standings.[3] Each team played one game against each of the other teams in its group, for a total of four games (two at home and two on the road).[2]

If two or more teams in a group had equal records upon completion of group play, the following tiebreakers were applied in this order:[2]

  1. Head-to-head record in the group stage
  2. Point differential in the group stage (excluding overtime)[4]
  3. Total points scored in the group stage (excluding overtime)
  4. Regular season record from the 2024–25 regular season
  5. Random drawing

Note: Overtime scoring did not count towards the point differential and total points tiebreakers in the Emirates NBA Cup. A team's point differential was "0" in Group Play games that went to overtime, and a team's total points scored excluded points scored in overtime.

A photo of the arena at day
Hinkle Fieldhouse in 2012

Each group's winner then advanced to the knockout stage, as did one wild card from each conference—the group runner-up with the best group stage record. The knockout stage was a single-elimination tournament. Quarterfinal games will be played in local NBA markets on December 4 and 5, with the teams with the top two group stage records in each conference hosting, and the best team in group-play games would host the wild-card team.[2]

Starting this season, the semifinals on December 8 and 9 will also be played at the home arenas of each conference's higher-seed instead of a neutral site. The championship game will then be played on December 11 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, under the NBA's new plan to hold the final round at iconic basketball arenas.[1]

Quarterfinal and semifinal games counted as regular season games, affecting teams' positions in league standings, but the championship game did not. Statistics from the championship game were also not counted in regular season totals.[2]

To balance the regular season, the teams that did not make the knockout stage played two additional consolation games on December 6 or 7 and 9 or 10, against each other in the same conference, while teams that were eliminated in the quarterfinals played one additional consolation game against each other (from the same conference) on December 7, 9 or 10.[2]

While the knockout stage was played, the 22 teams that did not qualify for the knockout stage each will play two additional regular season games, one home and one away, to complete each team's 82 game regular season schedule. Among these 11 total matchups, 10 are intra-conference games, with an attempt by the league to schedule as many pairs of teams that were originally scheduled to only play each other three times during the regular season. The other two matchups are interconference games, as there is an odd number of teams in each conference (11). This final interconference matchups featured two of the six teams that finished last in their respective group.[2]

Prize money

Players on teams advancing to the knockout stage received prize money as follows:[5]

  • Players on teams that lose in the quarterfinals: $51,497 each
  • Players on teams that lose in the semifinals: $102,994 each
  • Players on the tournament runner-up team: $205,988 each
  • Players on the tournament championship team: $514,971 each

Each team's winner will advance to the knockout stage, along with one wild card from each conference. Quarterfinals (December 4–5) and semifinals (December 8/9) will be played in local markets, while the championship game (December 11) will take place in Indianapolis.

Draw

Pots

Teams were allocated into five pots per conference based on the 2025–26 regular season standings. Pot 1 contained the teams with the top three regular season records in each conference, while Pot 2 contained the teams with the fourth- to sixth-best records and so forth, concluding with Pot 5, which contained the teams with the bottom three (thirteenth through fifteenth) records.[2][6]

Draw results

The groups were revealed on June 30, 2026.[7]

Eastern Conference
                 Group A                                   Group B                                   Group C                 
Detroit Pistons (1)
Toronto Raptors (5)
Orlando Magic (8)
Milwaukee Bucks (11)
Brooklyn Nets (13)		 New York Knicks (3)
Cleveland Cavaliers (4)
Philadelphia 76ers (7)
Miami Heat (10)
Indiana Pacers (14)		 Boston Celtics (2)
Atlanta Hawks (6)
Charlotte Hornets (9)
Chicago Bulls (12)
Washington Wizards (15)
Western Conference
                 Group A                                   Group B                                   Group C                 
Denver Nuggets (3)
Houston Rockets (5)
Phoenix Suns (7)
Dallas Mavericks (12)
Utah Jazz (15)		 Oklahoma City Thunder (1)
Minnesota Timberwolves (6)
Los Angeles Clippers (9)
New Orleans Pelicans (11)
Memphis Grizzlies (13)		 San Antonio Spurs (2)
Los Angeles Lakers (4)
Portland Trail Blazers (8)
Golden State Warriors (10)
Sacramento Kings (14)

Group stage

East group A

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification
1 Detroit Pistons 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2 Toronto Raptors 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage based on ranking
3 Orlando Magic 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Milwaukee Bucks 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Brooklyn Nets 0 0 0 0 0 0
First game(s) will be played: October 30, 2026. Source:

East group B

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification
1 New York Knicks 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2 Cleveland Cavaliers 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage based on ranking
3 Philadelphia 76ers 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Miami Heat 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Indiana Pacers 0 0 0 0 0 0
First game(s) will be played: October 30, 2026. Source:

East group C

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification
1 Boston Celtics 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2 Atlanta Hawks 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage based on ranking
3 Charlotte Hornets 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Chicago Bulls 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Washington Wizards 0 0 0 0 0 0
First game(s) will be played: October 30, 2026. Source:

West group A

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification
1 Denver Nuggets 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2 Houston Rockets 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage based on ranking
3 Phoenix Suns 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Dallas Mavericks 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Utah Jazz 0 0 0 0 0 0
First game(s) will be played: October 30, 2026. Source:

West group B

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification
1 Oklahoma City Thunder 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2 Minnesota Timberwolves 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage based on ranking
3 Los Angeles Clippers 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 New Orleans Pelicans 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Memphis Grizzlies 0 0 0 0 0 0
First game(s) will be played: October 30, 2026. Source:

West group C

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification
1 San Antonio Spurs 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2 Los Angeles Lakers 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage based on ranking
3 Portland Trail Blazers 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Golden State Warriors 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Sacramento Kings 0 0 0 0 0 0
First game(s) will be played: October 30, 2026. Source:

Ranking of second-placed teams

Eastern Conference

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification
1 Second place East Group A 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2 Second place East Group B 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 Second place East Group C 0 0 0 0 0 0
First game(s) will be played: October 30, 2026. Source:

Western Conference

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification
1 Second place West Group A 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2 Second place West Group B 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 Second place West Group C 0 0 0 0 0 0
First game(s) will be played: October 30, 2026. Source:

Media coverage

The 2026 tournament will feature expanded broadcast coverage as Prime Video will stream most group games (on all Fridays of the tournament, two games per night) and all knockout rounds, while ESPN, NBC, NBCSN will cover five games total, two as part of a split doubleheader for NBC/NBCSN and three on ESPN (as part of their regular Coast to Coast Tuesday and NBA Wednesday packages) during the week of Thanksgiving nationally.[8]

Peacock and ESPN DTC will also simulcast games televised by NBC and ESPN respectively.

References

  1. 1 2 "Hinkle Fieldhouse to host Emirates NBA Cup 2026 Championship". NBA.com. June 30, 2026. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Emirates NBA Cup: Rules, format and how it works". NBA.com. July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Emirates NBA Cup: Key dates & schedule". NBA.com. August 14, 2025. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
  4. ↑ Reynolds, Tim (July 17, 2024). "NBA moves a big step closer to finalizing new 11-year media rights deals". AP News. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  5. ↑ East, Tony (November 6, 2024). "NBA Cup Prize Money Has Varying Appeal To NBA Players: 'A Nice Bonus'". forbes.com. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  6. ↑ Bontemps, Tim (July 8, 2023). "NBA officially unveils format, groups for new in-season tournament". ESPN. Archived from the original on July 9, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Emirates NBA Cup 2026 groups announced". NBA.com. June 30, 2026. Retrieved July 1, 2026.
  8. ↑ "NBA Cup schedule announced; games to stream on Prime Video". AP News. July 2025. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
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