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NBA Cup 2024: Which teams are still in the hunt for a spot in the knockout stage?
The 2024 Emirates NBA Cup is heating up with Group Play winding down. Here's a look at the lay of the land in each of the six groups as the tourney presses on:
How it works: Group winners and wild cards
There are two more nights of Group Play, which concludes on Tuesday, Dec. 3, with the top eight teams in the East and West — the winners of Groups A, B and C, plus two “wild cards” (the team from each conference with the best record in group-play games that finished second in its group) — advancing to the single-elimination knockout rounds.
Because of the small number of games, tiebreakers will likely come into play (even for the wild card), with the advancing team being decided by:
(1) head-to-head in group play;
(2) non-overtime point differential in group play;
(3) total non-overtime points in group play;
(4) 2023-24 regular-season record and finally;
(5) a random drawing.
The four quarterfinal games will be played Tuesday, Dec. 10, and Wednesday, Dec. 11.
The four winners will advance to Las Vegas, where the semifinals will be held on Saturday, Dec. 14. The championship game for the NBA Cup will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 17, at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC. It will be the only game in the entire tournament that won’t also count toward the participating teams’ regular-season records or their players’ statistics.
The teams that don’t make it to Las Vegas won’t just be chilling at home, though. During the knockout rounds, on the days where no NBA Cup games are scheduled — Thursday, Dec. 12, Friday, Dec. 13, Sunday, Dec. 15 and Monday, Dec. 16 — the 22 teams who didn’t qualify for the knockouts will each play two regular-season games. The four teams that lose in the quarterfinals will each play one regular-season game against one another, too.
Who’s sitting pretty
• As the winners of West Group C, the 3-0 Warriors were the first team to punch their ticket to the knockout round, which is as pretty as it gets at this point.
• With a win on Tuesday, the 3-0 Rockets clinched West Group A on Tuesday.
• The 2-0 Magic and 3-0 Bucks lead East Group A and B, respectively, with 20-plus-point leads in the point-differential department over their 2-0 counterparts, the Knicks and Pistons, putting both Orlando in Milwaukee in strong position to either win their groups or contend for the East’s wild-card spot.
Who’s still in the hunt
Technically, everybody but the Pelicans, Jazz, Raptors and Wizards.
But the Hornets, Pacers, Kings and Grizzlies remain winless. There are also five 1-2 teams still hanging on: the 76ers, Nets, Nuggets, Heat and Timberwolves.
The other 17 teams in the league are all either 3-0, 2-0, 2-1 or 1-1, and still alive for a spot in the knockout round.
[Check out the NBA Cup Standings]
East Group A
1. Orlando Magic (2-0)
Remaining schedule: at Nets, at Knicks
Key tiebreaker: +37 point differential (23 points ahead of New York)
2. New York Knicks (2-0)
Remaining schedule: at Hornets, vs. Magic
3. Philadelphia 76ers (1-2)
Remaining schedule: at Hornets
Eliminated with a loss OR Magic and Knicks wins
4. Brooklyn Nets (1-2)
Remaining schedule: vs. Magic
Eliminated with a loss OR Magic and Knicks wins
5. Charlotte Hornets (0-2)
Remaining schedule: vs. Knicks, vs. 76ers
Eliminated with a loss
East Group B
1. Milwaukee Bucks (3-0)
Remaining schedule: at Pistons
Key tiebreaker: +29 point lead (25 points ahead of Detroit)
2. Detroit Pistons (2-0)
Remaining schedule: at Pacers, vs. Bucks
Hold head-to-head tiebreaker over Heat
3. Miami Heat (1-2)
Remaining schedule: vs. Raptors
Eliminated with a loss OR Pistons win
4. Toronto Raptors (0-2)
Remaining schedule: at Heat, vs. Pacers
Eliminated
5. Indiana Pacers (0-2)
Remaining schedule: vs. Pistons, at Raptors
Eliminated with a loss
East Group C
1. Chicago Bulls (2-1)
Remaining schedule: vs. Celtics
Hold head-to-head tiebreaker over Hawks
+15 point differential (one point ahead of Boston)
Win Group C with win AND Cavaliers loss to Hawks
2. Atlanta Hawks (2-1)
Remaining schedule: vs. Cavaliers
-1 point differential, but hold head-to-head tiebreaker over Celtics
Win Group C with win AND Bulls loss to Celtics
3. Boston Celtics (2-1)
Remaining schedule: at Bulls
Hold head-to-head tiebreaker over Cavaliers
Win Group C with win AND Hawks loss to Cavaliers
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (1-1)
Remaining schedule: at Hawks, vs. Wizards
Hold head-to-head tiebreaker over Bulls
Win Group C with wins over Hawks and Wizards AND Celtics loss to Hawks
5. Washington Wizards (0-3)
Remaining schedule: at Cavaliers
Eliminated
West Group A
1. Houston Rockets (3-0)
Remaining schedule: at Kings
Clinched Group A
2. Portland Trail Blazers (1-1)
Remaining schedule: vs. Kings, at Clippers
3. LA Clippers (1-1)
Remaining schedule: at Timberwolves, vs. Trail Blazers
4. Minnesota Timberwolves (1-2)
Remaining schedule: vs. Clippers
Eliminated with a loss
5. Sacramento Kings (0-2)
Remaining schedule: at Trail Blazers, vs. Rockets
Eliminated with a loss
West Group B
1. Phoenix Suns (2-1)
Remaining schedule: vs. Spurs
Hold head-to-head tiebreaker over Lakers
+19 point differential
Win Group B with win AND Thunder loss
2. Los Angeles Lakers (2-1)
Remaining schedule: vs. Thunder
-16 point differential, but hold head-to-head tiebreaker over Spurs
Win Group B with win AND Suns loss
3. San Antonio Spurs (2-1)
Remaining schedule: at Suns
Hold head-to-head tiebreaker over Thunder
+14 point differential
Win Group B with win AND Lakers loss
4. Oklahoma City Thunder (1-1)
Remaining schedule: at Lakers, vs. Jazz
Hold head-to-head tiebreaker over Suns
Win Group B with wins over Lakers and Jazz AND Spurs loss
5. Utah Jazz (0-3)
Remaining schedule: at Thunder
Eliminated
West Group C
1. Golden State Warriors (3-0)
Remaining schedule: at Nuggets
Clinched Group C
2. Dallas Mavericks (2-1)
Remaining schedule: at Grizzlies
3. New Orleans Pelicans (1-2)
Remaining schedule: at Grizzlies
Eliminated
4. Denver Nuggets (1-2)
Remaining schedule: vs. Warriors
Eliminated with a loss
5. Memphis Grizzlies (0-2)
Remaining schedule: vs. Pelicans, at Mavericks
Eliminated with a loss
