As the in-season NBA Cup heads to Finals night in December, the first silverware of the season will be handed out. The NBA Cup is a completely separate title from the NBA Championship. The new multi-stage competition was introduced ahead of the 2023/24 season to boost mid-season interest.
The Los Angeles Lakers were crowned the first-ever NBA Cup winners after defeating the Indiana Pacers 123-109 in the 2023 Final, and basketball legend LeBron James was crowned the Tournament MVP.
Surprisingly, the LA Lakers won’t be showing up in Las Vegas for a title defence, as they were dumped out early in the group stage. The NBA Cup shifts gears from the group stage to a straight knockout format, with the Final set for 17th December in the gambling capital of the world, Las Vegas.
The NBA Cup format
All teams participate in the NBA Cup by entering the initial group stage, so there is no qualification and the group stage matches are not separate from the NBA regular season schedule. Matches are played on a Tuesday and a Friday, and they count towards both the regular season and NBA Cup standings.
During the group stage for the NBA Cup, teams are separated into three groups of five for each conference. Each team plays the other four teams within the same group to decide the final standings. From there, each of the six group winners automatically book their spot in the quarter-finals, and they are joined by the best wildcard team from each conference.
Seeding happens for the quarter-finals and in each conference, as the top qualified team faces the wildcard entry. Then it’s the second-placed team versus the third-placed team. The top two teams in each of the conferences get the home-court advantage for the NBA Cup quarter-finals.
The winners of those quarter-final matches then head to Las Vegas for the semi-finals, which are played on the same day. Three days later, the NBA Cup Final is held.
How the group stage 2024 played out
There were some upsets in the group phase of the 2024 NBA Cup, notably with defending champions the LA Lakers failing to advance, while reigning NBA champions the Boston Celtics couldn’t do enough to get through either.
East Group A – New York 4-0, Orlando 3-1, Philadelphia 2-2, Brooklyn 1-3, Charlotte 0-4
The New York Knicks swept the field in East Group A winning all four matches, with the decisive victory over the Orlando Magic being the telling result between two of the Eastern Conference’s strongest teams. The Magic made it through to the quarter-finals as the Eastern Conference wildcard.
East Group B – Milwaukee 4-0, Detroit 3-1, Miami 2-2, Toronto 1-3, Indiana 0-4
The Milwaukee Bucks were pre-tournament favourites to win their section and they did so with a 4-0 record, finishing with a +50 points difference to see off the likes of the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat. Last season’s losing finalists, the Indiana Pacers, finished bottom of the section.
East Group C – Atlanta 3-1, Boston 3-1, Cleveland 2-2, Chicago 2-2, Washington 0-4
This was the most competitive group on paper. With the Cleveland Cavaliers falling out of NBA Cup form, there was a big duel for the top spot in East Group C between the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics. The Hawks took an early advantage by beating Boston in the opening fixture, which proved to be important down the line, as Atlanta would surprisingly go on to lose against the Chicago Bulls. As the Hawks and Celtics both finished with a 3-1 group stage record, the Hawks took the top spot due to that head-to-head win over Boston.
West Group A – Houston 3-1, Los Angeles Clippers 2-2, Minnesota 2-2, Portland 2-2, Sacramento 1-3
The favourites, the Houston Rockets, beat the Los Angeles Clippers to the top spot in West Group A. The Texas team always looked more than comfortable, despite losing their final group stage match, which was unimportant to them at the time, as they had already locked in the group win.
West Group B – Oklahoma City 3-1, Phoenix 3-1, Los Angeles Lakers 2-2, San Antonio 2-2, Utah 0-4
This was a competitive group, with all but one of the teams winning at least two matches. The Oklahoma City Thunder delivered the group win thanks to a head-to-head success against runners-up the Phoenix Suns. Reigning NBA Cup champions the LA Lakers slipped to a W2 L2 group stage record and were eliminated.
West Group C – Golden State 3-1, Dallas 3-1, Denver 2-2, Memphis 1-3, New Orleans 1-3
This was a toss-up between the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks. However, the Mavs, runners-up to the Boston Celtics in last season’s NBA Finals, were expected to win the section. Thanks to their opening 120-117 win over Dallas, in which Stephen Curry produced 37 points, Golden State won out on the head-to-head. The Mavericks still made it through as the Western Conference wildcard.
The eight qualified teams for the knockout stage
With the final round of qualifying matches played on 3rd December, the final line-up of teams for the NBA Cup quarter-finals was set.
Eastern Conference
- Milwaukee Bucks
- New York Knicks
- Atlanta Hawks
- Orlando Magic
Western Conference
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Houston Rockets
- Golden State Warriors
- Dallas Mavericks
Here’s how it shook out with the draw after the group stage standings.
Eastern Conference
- Milwaukee Bucks vs. 4 Orlando Magic
- New York Knicks vs. 3 Atlanta Hawks
Western Conference
- Oklahoma City Thunder vs. 4 Dallas Mavericks
- Houston Rockets vs. 3 Golden State Warriors
The quarter-finals
The quarter-finals of the NBA Cup 2024 were played on 10th and 11th December. Each night featured one match from both the Eastern and Western Conferences.
Orlando Magic 109-114 Milwaukee Bucks
There was a hint of a wildcard danger coming from the Orlando Magic, and this was evident in the first quarter, which the Floridians won 33-25. However, the Bucks then raced back into the game. They dominated the second and third quarters to handle their opponents comfortably in the end, despite the Magic winning the fourth by three points. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points for the Bucks.
Dallas Mavericks 104-118 Oklahoma City Thunder
This was the Western Conference match-up between the first and fourth seeds, and it went according to the books. The Thunder cruised through the match and were never under any kind of real pressure. Oklahoma asserted themselves strongly in the first quarter and never looked back, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander top scoring with 39 points.
Atlanta Hawks 108-100 New York Knicks
This was a great quarter-final, with the New York Knicks winning the first half quite comfortably. However, the game was turned on its head with an astonishing third quarter, which the Hawks won 34-18 to put themselves in the ascendancy after looking out of the contest at the half-time break. They pulled through after a tight fourth quarter.
Golden State Warriors 90-91 Houston Rockets
The tightest of quarter-final matches was a nail-biter all the way. The Rockets had taken control of the match at half-time, but a strong bounceback after the break saw the Warriors get back into the thick of it, setting up a tense final quarter. The Rockets won the fourth quarter 23-21, which was enough to give them a one-point margin of victory in the match.
The NBA Cup 2024 semi-finals
The semi-finals of the NBA Cup were held back-to-back in Las Vegas on Saturday, 14th December. Giannis Antetokounmpo rattled in 32 points and also picked up 14 rebounds as the Bucks earned a 110-102 victory.
This left the Bucks to go up against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a blockbuster final in Las Vegas. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander produced 32 points, helping the Thunder breeze past the challenge of the Houston Rockets in the semi-finals.
And this evening, the Final!
The mid-season tournament now all boils down to this fantastic one-off match. One thing we know is that there will be a new name on the trophy this season.
Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the current leader in the NBA season stats, but he has been backed up so well by valuable contributions from the likes of Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez. The Bucks look to have strong team unity and balance, and they don’t just rely on their superstar. They will need all of this unity as they head to the final as underdogs.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder are the Western Conference leaders. Overall this season, only the Cleveland Cavaliers hold a better win record than the Thunder, who have a 0.800 win percentage. In contrast, the Milwaukee Bucks are barely across the 50/50 line for wins and losses this season at 0.560. The Thunder are firm favourites for the title.
Bucks vs Thunder head-to-head
The two teams met at the start of December in a regular-season match and Oklahoma City won that easily on home court 125-107. However, they had been on a six-match losing streak against the Bucks prior to that, and Milwaukee have won eight of the last 10 meetings in total.
Buckle up for what should be an entertaining finale to the mid-season Cup with two of the NBA’s current biggest stars in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander going up against each other. Catch all the latest NBA Cup Final basketball pre-match odds at Tonybet, and enjoy live betting across a vast number of markets once the Final gets underway.
