The 2026 Emirates NBA Cup begins Oct. 30, bringing all 30 NBA teams into a tournament that runs alongside the regular season. Each team plays four designated group-stage games that count toward both its Cup standings and its regular-season record. After 60 group games, eight teams advance to a single-elimination bracket.
The fourth annual tournament concludes Dec. 11 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where one team will claim the NBA Cup trophy. The New York Knicks enter as defending champions after defeating the San Antonio Spurs 124-113 in the 2025 final. New York subsequently won the 2026 NBA championship, becoming the first franchise to capture both titles in the same season, according to the NBA's official 2026 group announcement.
The competition features 67 games, but only the championship is excluded from regular-season standings. Here's how the groups, qualification rules and knockout bracket fit together.
Do NBA Cup games count toward the regular-season standings?
Yes, except for the championship. All four group-stage games count toward a team's 82-game regular-season record, as do any quarterfinal and semifinal games it plays. These are not additional regular-season games; each result counts toward both competitions.
That means a team losing a Cup game also takes a loss in the regular-season standings. Likewise, winning a Cup matchup improves its regular-season record while strengthening its position in the tournament.
The championship is different. Neither the result nor individual player statistics from the Dec. 11 final count toward regular-season records. The game determines the Cup champion without affecting either finalist's position in the NBA standings.
Teams eliminated from Cup contention continue their regular-season schedules. The NBA arranges additional games during the knockout period so every franchise still completes its standard 82-game season.
2026 NBA Cup groups and schedules
The NBA divides its 30 teams into six groups of five, with three groups in each conference. The draw uses teams' records from the previous regular season to distribute them across the groups.
Each team faces its four group opponents once, playing twice at home and twice on the road. Only those designated matchups count toward the Cup's group standings.
The official 2026 groups are:
Eastern Conference
| Group | Teams |
|---|---|
| East A | Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucks |
| East B | New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers |
| East C | Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks |
Western Conference
| Group | Teams |
|---|---|
| West A | Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets |
| West B | LA Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans |
| West C | Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings |
The Knicks, for example, face their East Group B opponents at Philadelphia on Oct. 30 and Indiana on Nov. 13, then host Cleveland on Nov. 25 and Miami on Nov. 27. Those four matchups determine New York's group-stage record.
Group play takes place Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, 13, 20, 24, 25 and 27. The opening doubleheader features the Knicks visiting the 76ers, followed by the Lakers facing the Warriors in Golden State.
According to the NBA's August schedule announcement, 15 of the 60 group-stage games will be nationally televised or streamed across Prime Video, NBC/Peacock and ESPN. The schedule includes five Friday doubleheaders on Prime Video and a Thanksgiving Eve tripleheader on ESPN.
How teams advance: Group winners, wild cards and tiebreakers
Winning a group guarantees a place in the knockout round. The six group winners advance automatically, joined by one wild-card team from each conference.
Each wild-card berth goes to the second-place team with the best group-stage record in its conference. That leaves four Eastern Conference teams and four Western Conference teams competing in the quarterfinals.
With only four games per team, identical records are possible. The NBA uses a specific order of tiebreakers to determine which teams advance.
For teams tied within the same group, the league compares:
- Head-to-head record in group play.
- Point differential across group-stage games.
- Total points scored during group play.
- Record from the 2025-26 NBA regular season.
- A random drawing if the tie remains unresolved.
Wild-card ties follow the same sequence, except head-to-head results are excluded. The NBA resolves ties within individual groups before comparing second-place teams for the wild-card berths.
Point differential can decide who advances. It measures the difference between points scored and points allowed. For example, a team that scores 110 points and allows 95 earns a plus-15 differential, while a 110-108 victory produces only plus-2.
If two wild-card candidates finish 3-1, the team with the stronger group-stage point differential advances, provided neither is eliminated by an earlier applicable tiebreaker.
There is also an important overtime exception. Under the NBA's official tournament rules, overtime scoring is excluded from point-differential and total-points tiebreakers.
A group-stage game that reaches overtime contributes zero point differential for both teams, regardless of the final margin. Points scored during overtime are also excluded from the total-points calculation.
The result still counts as a win or loss. Only the scoring figures used for those particular tiebreakers are adjusted.
How the NBA Cup knockout bracket works
Once group play ends Nov. 27, eight teams enter a single-elimination bracket. The Eastern and Western conferences remain separate until the championship, when their respective winners meet.
Unlike a traditional playoff series, every knockout matchup is decided in one game. There are no best-of-seven series or second chances after a loss.
The tournament follows this schedule:
- Quarterfinals, Dec. 4–5: Four games determine which teams advance to the semifinals.
- Semifinals, Dec. 8 and/or 9: The four quarterfinal winners compete for two championship berths.
- Championship, Dec. 11: The Eastern and Western winners meet at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Home-court advantage depends on group-stage performance. In each conference, the two highest-seeded teams host quarterfinal games, with the top seed facing the wild-card qualifier. The second seed hosts the remaining group winner.
The semifinals are also played at the higher-seeded team's home arena. The championship is the exception, taking place at a predetermined venue rather than either finalist's home court.
Unlike previous editions that brought the semifinals to a neutral location, the 2026 tournament keeps those games in NBA team markets. Strong group-stage performances can therefore earn teams home-court advantage deeper into the tournament.
The actual quarterfinal matchups cannot be finalized until the group standings are settled. Higher seeds receive hosting advantages, but every knockout participant must win its next game to survive.
When the 2026 NBA Cup begins
The Knicks and 76ers open group play Oct. 30, followed by the Lakers and Warriors. The tournament then moves through seven group-play dates before the eight-team knockout field is determined after Nov. 27.
Fans can follow their team's progress through the official NBA Cup standings, which track the six groups and the race for each conference's wild-card berth.
With only four group games per team, the margin for error is small. A single defeat can complicate the path to the knockout round, while a convincing victory can decide a tiebreaker. Those results will ultimately determine which eight teams compete for the Cup in December — and which 22 see their tournament hopes end before the knockout stage begins.