NBA Cup 2025: Schedule, format, rules, groups for in-season tournament

The NBA Cup is back. The league’s in-season tournament is entering its third season as part of the NBA schedule, and this year’s edition will tip-off Friday, as group play begins on Halloween. The Lakers and Bucks have put up NBA Cup (or, in the Lakers’ case, In-Season Tournament) banners and this season we’ll see who can get their 2025 season off to a fast start on the colorful courts of the Cup. It usually doesn’t take long to find out which teams are taking the Cup seriously, as the point differential tiebreakers mean those with designs on reaching the knockout rounds tend to keep their foot on the gas pedal all the way through the fourth quarter. 

Here we’ll go through all six groups to look at the teams and make picks for who will win each and advance to the knockout rounds. Before those picks, it’s time for a quick refresher on the format and rules for the NBA Cup. 

How does the NBA Cup work?

The NBA Cup begins with the group stage, as the league’s 30 teams have been divided into six groups of five teams. Each team plays the other four teams in their group once, with two games at home and two on the road, to determine the winner of the group. The team with the best record advances to the knockout stage, while the two teams with the best second-place records also advance.

The tiebreakers for group play are: 

• Head-to-head record
• Point differential in group play
• Total points scored in group play

Once the eight teams have been set for the knockout rounds, they’ll play a single-elimination tournament, with the quarterfinals being played at home arenas and the semifinals and final being played in Las Vegas on Dec. 13 and 16. Each player on the winning team will take home just more than $500,000 in prize money, with the runner-ups taking home north of $200,000 each. 

All games in the NBA Cup except for the final count as regular season games for the 2025-26 season. 

2025 NBA Cup groups, odds

West Group A

The reigning NBA champs are the heavy favorites in West Group A, with the Minnesota Timberwolves as a distant second in the odds as they’ll begin the NBA Cup without Anthony Edwards in the lineup due to a hamstring injury. The Kings and Suns are off to slow starts and are unsurprisingly long shots to win the group. 

The Jazz have been one of the surprises of the NBA’s first week, and anyone that buys this as being a real leap from Utah can get them at a big price to shock the group. Lauri Markkanen became the latest NBA star to put up a 50-ball and the Jazz could look at the NBA Cup as a chance to test themselves in a competitive environment for the first time after a few years of aggressive tanking. 

The problem for Utah is they almost assuredly have to beat the Thunder to win the group, and OKC has picked up right where they left off after their first title campaign last year. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks like an MVP frontrunner again, and while they’ve been taken to double overtime twice, their depth keeps showing up in helping find ways to win. 

PICK: Oklahoma City Thunder (-220)

West Group B

The most wide open group in the West is Group B, where the team that can get healthy fastest is going to have the advantage. The Clippers are slight favorites over their cross-town rivals, thanks in part to a mostly healthy roster and the best depth of any of the teams in this group. They also have the best homecourt advantage in the NBA, and will host New Orleans and Memphis as their two home games in group play. 

The inaugural NBA Cup champion Lakers have injury concerns for their two top stars, with Luka Dončić dealing with a finger sprain and LeBron James still yet to get on the court with a sciatica issue. While travel isn’t an issue in facing the Clippers, it’s still an advantage getting them at home and Dončić should be back in the lineup by then. Dončić also should have plenty of motivation against the Mavs to wrap up group play on Nov. 28. 

The Grizzlies are banged up themselves and they have struggled against quality opponents in the early going. The Mavs have also had a tough start in Kyrie Irving’s absence, as asking rookie forward Cooper Flagg to run the point has produced the expected ups and downs. Then there are the Pelicans bringing up the rear as they’ve opened the season with three straight losses as they’ve struggled defensively out of the gates. 

There is no dominant team in this group (at least right now in the early going), and if any of these teams can lock in for the month of November, they will have a great shot at making the knockout stage. My pick is the Lakers, as they should get Dončić back soon and have the better home schedule by getting the Clippers in Crypto.com instead of the Intuit Dome. 

PICK: Los Angeles Lakers (+290)

West Group C

The “group of death” in this year’s NBA Cup is West Group C. The top four teams all look like legit playoff contenders in the West, and even while Portland is dealing with the fallout of Chauncey Billups’ arrest, they’ve been a solidly competitive team. 

This is the most star-studded group in the entire competition, with Nikola Jokić, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Victor Wembanyama all operating at an incredibly high level early in the season. Denver is a slight favorite, but the Spurs are the team with the best record coming in as Wembanyama’s made himself an MVP candidate with his unbelievable play out of the gate. The Warriors have also been red-hot to start the season, with Curry, Jimmy Butler and company looking the part of a contender early. 

For all the efforts of the league to create fairly equal pods of teams by using the previous year’s standings to group them together, this is about as loaded a group as you could possibly make. The Warriors are my pick for two reasons. One is they won their group last year and know how to run it up to get that point differential advantage. Two is they look like a team on a mission early this season, as they know the more wins they bank now, the more cushion they can give themselves to manage minutes on an old roster before the playoffs.

PICK: Golden State Warriors (+300)

East Group A

The Cavs are a big favorite in East Group A for good reason, as Cleveland is the only team in this group with a winning record. After dropping their opener in New York, the Cavs have been dominant and have shown why they’re one of the favorites in the East this season. 

The rest of this group needs to find something quickly to have a chance at reaching the knockout stage. The Hawks were supposed to take a leap this season, but they have struggled in the early going as they try to integrate some new pieces into their rotation. The Raptors have likewise stumbled out of the gates, with a defense that’s giving up points in bunches. The Pacers have played a tough schedule that has exacerbated their issues without Tyrese Haliburton, and their center rotation is a major concern. Washington has struggled as expected, and the Wizards’ odds reflect the gap between their roster and the rest of this group. 

I’m not sure how much past NBA Cup success matters, but the Pacers and Hawks have both made it to Las Vegas before, so perhaps they can recapture that magic this November. Still, right now all of these teams outside of Cleveland have been a mess and it’s hard for me to trust any of them to top the Cavs. 

PICK: Cleveland Cavaliers (-125)

East Group B

The Magic were once bigger favorites in this group, but like the Hawks their expected leap this season hasn’t materialized in the early going. That stumble out of the gates has created a logjam at the top of this group in the odds, with Detroit and Philadelphia right alongside. 

The Pistons have been solid, yet unspectacular in the first week of the season, but it’s the 76ers that have been one of the East’s big surprises. Despite a mediocre start from Joel Embiid playing on a minutes restriction, Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe have the Sixers off to a red-hot start to the season that’s made them a real threat in this group. 

Then there’s Boston, who have been competitive in every game this season, but have taken a couple steps back as predicted with the absence of Jayson Tatum and loss of other key players this offseason. At the very bottom are the Nets, who have looked the part of the NBA’s worst team in the first week. 

I believe in this early Sixers run, as Maxey looks like he’s made another leap, Edgecombe is a perfect complement in the backcourt and if Embiid wakes up at all, they could be really good. 

PICK: Philadelphia 76ers (+280)

East Group C

The strongest group in the East is Group C, as the Knicks are the favorites, but will have to face a number of the East’s hottest teams in the early going to advance. 

Milwaukee is the biggest apparent threat to New York, as Giannis Antetokounmpo is producing MVP caliber numbers again and just led the Bucks to a win over the Knicks to make an early statement. The Bucks are the defending NBA Cup champions and Giannis would love to cash another $500,000 check in Las Vegas. 

The Heat and Bulls both come in with winning records themselves, with Miami picking up an early win over New York as well. Even the Hornets have been competitive to start the season and won’t be an easy out, with LaMelo Ball playing at an extremely high level to start the season. NBA fans are wondering just how sustainable those three teams’ starts are, but for NBA Cup purposes, they just have to keep things rolling for another month to make a surprising run to the knockout rounds. 

My pick is Milwaukee, even though I don’t love their schedule — Miami and New York over a three-day stretch on the road is tough for a variety of reasons. Giannis is the best player in this group and the Knicks are still going through growing pains with Mike Brown’s offense. Their goal is to have that figured out by April, not November. 

PICK: Milwaukee Bucks (+360)

Friday’s 2025 NBA Cup schedule

All times Eastern

• Pacers vs. Hawks, 7 p.m. 
• 76ers vs. Celtics, 7 p.m. 
• Cavaliers vs. Raptors, 7:30 p.m. 
• Bulls vs. Knicks, 8 p.m. 
• Grizzlies vs. Lakers, 9:30 p.m. 
• Suns vs. Jazz, 10 p.m. 
• Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets, 10 p.m. 
• Clippers vs. Pelicans, 10:30 p.m.

2025 NBA Cup dates

• Friday, Oct. 31: 8 games
• Friday, Nov. 7: 11 games
• Friday, Nov. 14: 9 games
• Friday, Nov. 21: 9 games
• Tuesday, Nov. 25: 3 games
• Wednesday, Nov. 26: 9 games
• Friday, Nov. 28: 11 games
• Dec. 9-10: Quarterfinals
• Dec. 13: Semifinals
• Dec. 16: Final